Adapt or Die
by Adoredra Fal'naelra
Summary: Can three people with their own past and problems unite together as a team under a broken teacher to face the dangers of the future? Team 7. [AU]
1. Everything has Changed

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not. I make no money off of this.

AN: My first fanfiction ever written. First time publishing to this site. Thank you for your patience. All reviews welcomed.

Shoutout to my beta reader Vavavoooom (a.k.a. ThreePiSquared).

* * *

**Adapt or Die**

_By: Adoredra Fal'Naelra_

**Chapter I - Everything has Changed**

* * *

Two boys were whispering rather loudly with no concern whether or not anyone heard them.

"This is the first time he has shown up since the massacre," the brown haired one said.

"I know my parents said it happened all within hours," responded the one with black hair.

"I heard my parents say that his brother did it."

The black haired boy gasped, "No way! I can't believe that. That's terrible!"

Sakura felt tears well up in her eyes. She instinctually felt the need to shut them up, but that would simply draw attention to herself. She didn't like attention – her parents said so. A lady's job is to sit politely and quietly, and her reward was receiving gifts and love. So she stayed in her seat. She couldn't say that she wasn't spoiled, but she always secretly felt a need to express herself. Also, she liked to hear gossip.

She blamed her best friend Ino for that problem. Well, ex-best friend after she announced her intentions to gain Sasuke's attention. '_Typical,'_ she thought morosely, '_I don't follow my parents' instructions, and I lose the only person who defended me from bullies. I can hear my parents saying that they told me so. Tch.'_

Then, she noticed the blond-haired boy stand up ruffling his blue battle-kimono with a serious look on his face from behind the two boys. Sakura could still remember when he was six inches shorter and wearing orange. '_Naruto sure did grow up quickly in two years even for a boy in puberty,'_ Sakura noted.

She always did have an interest in medicine. Mainly because all you can really do when saying nothing and behaving herself is reading, and those medical texts always were long and took up the time. She hated the time. Always too much time.

Sakura secretly never liked it when the boy had a serious look on his face. She liked it when he smiled. It brightened the room, but now she couldn't remember the last time she saw it. Surprisingly, the boy passed by the two boys still obnoxiously 'whispering' to each other and stepped up to Sasuke – the boy of discussion and pre-teen heart-throb.

Sakura sighed dreamily thinking about how she could be his diligent wife. After all, that is what her parents trained her to be. Her thoughts were interrupted by the blonde's calm and collected voice as if speaking with wisdom only gained through experience.

"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be alone," Naruto began gaining everyone in the classes attention even Sasuke. '_I haven't seen Sasuke ever give someone his attention like that,' _thought Sakura jealously. "It's not," continued Naruto, "the worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone," Sasuke's eyes widened for the first time since _that _day. "One of the cruelest things a person can do to another is to pretend that they care more than they really do," he finished and returned to his seat behind the two boys.

'_Everyone has changed so quickly,' _Sakura dispassionately thought to herself with her head bent down. '_Everyone but me.'_

* * *

2 years ago

* * *

Sasuke was standing in front of his father, mother and brother outside of the Academy that he just joined as he had become of age. The Ninja School, or commonly referred to as the Academy, was a huge building located directly at the base of the Hokage Mountain compromised of several large buildings that have been added over time. Sasuke knew having already received clan training and a decent grasp of the basics.

He was feeling so excited. Not only was he going to become a ninja - finally, but his father was paying attention to him. Him and not his brother. Sasuke couldn't help the smile tug at his lips because even his brother took time to walk Sasuke to the Academy. '_He is always so busy being a ninja,' _Sasuke thought to himself dampening his mood a little, '_he never even plays with me or helps me train.' _

"I promise to make you proud, father," Sasuke announced in front of his family.

Fugaku looked down without a semblance of emotion on his face and said, "I know. Remember, everything you do reflects on the clan, and the Uchiha are the greatest of all the Konoha clans."

Sasuke nodded his head having heard this speech multiple times before, but he couldn't help but want his father to at least say his name. Sasuke's thoughts were quickly interrupted by a loud, prepubescent voice, "Oh my gosh, finally! I'm going to be a ninja! Ninja! Ninja! Can you believe it grandpa?! I've been waiting so long- like forever!"

Sasuke quickly swiveled towards the voice's direction seeing a big blue-eyed shrimp of a boy with three identical whisker marks on each cheek and a mop of unruly blonde hair on his head wearing a shirt too big for him with the Konoha leaf symbol plastered on the front and khaki shorts holding his supposedly grandfather's hand. The image of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

The boy was practically hoping from foot to foot in excitement, Sasuke noted. Sasuke's eyes widened when he noticed just who his grandfather was - the Third Hokage, but then quickly narrowed when he couldn't seem to notice any similarities between the two. Despite the fact that their must be at least a 60 year difference, the boy held no similarities, and Sasuke took pride in his observational skills. He might not have developed his Sharingan yet like his brother, but Sasuke didn't let that deter him. '_For instance'_, Sasuke deduced, '_the grandfather has no facial similarities. No whisker marks. No blue eyes. No blonde hair. Nothing.'_

He heard his mother whisper in a single breath of air, "Kushina."

Sasuke was confused, and he didn't like to be confused. He looked back at his family only to see them all intently focused on the boy and not the Hokage. '_Odd' _Sasuke thought '_Who can stand next to the Hokage and still manage to get all the attention.' _"Father, who is -," Sasuke began to ask only to be quickly interrupted by his father who immediately looked down.

"Do not interact with that _boy,__" _Fugaku nearly spat clearly wanting to say something else. "He is nothing but trouble and a plague to this village."

Sasuke's eyes widened more than ever before as he digested his father's vitriol. He noticed his mother clearly look at his father with a frown clearly etched on her face silently displaying her disapproval, and his brother quietly raising an eyebrow in response. Meanwhile, Sasuke's ears pricked up a little when he noticed that all the other parents were saying nearly identical orders to their own children. Some weren't even trying to be discreet about their distain.

Sasuke was now even more confused. How can everyone hate a child who claims to have the Third Hokage - the most powerful ninja in the village - as their grandfather? Also, how can the boy be so oblivious to his surroundings and what everyone was saying? Especially if he was an aspiring ninja.

Meanwhile, the Hokage chuckled around the smoke pipe in his mouth and patted the wild mop of hair on the boy, "You have much to learn, young Naruto."

"I'll make you proud, grandpa! Believe it!" shouted this 'Naruto' despite the fact that the Hokage was literally right next to him holding his hand.

"I know you will. Now, do you remember where the sheet to find out where your class is at?"

After seeing Naruto bop his head up and down, the Hokage continued, "And you remember where all the classes are from when we toured the Academy?"

"Of course! Of course!"

"Did you bring your lunch?"

"Yep! I've got in my backpack with my notebook and pencils, too! Sister packed it too! I hope she didn't put too many vegetables in it though. She always knows if I don't eat my vegetables," Naruto dragged off towards the end.

The Hokage's face flashed with an emotion for instance, but Sasuke noticed. He could only describe it as a feeling of guilt or remorse. "Can you recite for me the admission requirements?"

Naruto looked up at the Hokage who was looking down at him with a wry smile on his face that replaced his flash of guilt and immediately responded - nay shouted back, "Love the village and work hard and be healthy."

The Hokage chuckled and pointed, "Says the child who refuses to eat his vegetables."

"Yuck!" Naruto responded furiously shaking his head back and forth. "Who would want to eat those?! Their too green!"

Hokage's face was clearly amused by the child's antics, "Now I'm going to have to question if you truly love the village hidden in the leaves."

Naruto's face went white, and he brought his chubby left hand to his mouth aghast. "Of course, I love the village! How could you say such a thing!" Naruto demanded. "And. And. And. What do vegetables have to do with anything? I mean carrots are okay because their orange and therefore awesome..."

Hokage merely patted the boys head again stopping the boy's rambling about the color of orange of all things, "I was merely joking, my boy. It just so happens that the leaves happen to be green is all. Now, remember, my doors are always opened for you to visit Naruto"

Realization dawned in the boy's eyes as he understood how he misspoke, and he quickly promised to visit as the Hokage directed the boy towards the Academy door wishing the young child good luck. _'It's like reading a book,' _thought Sasuke looking at the boy's eyes. _'How could anyone be worried about a child like that?' _

Almost as if reading his thoughts, he noticed the Hokage wasn't looking at his charge's back but disapprovingly at the crowd around him pointedly looking all the adults in the eyes. It practically felt like the gravity was harder all around him as if voicing the Hokage's disapproval. Sasuke soon found his shoes to be very fascinating at that point in time, but he couldn't help but notice how Naruto practically skipped through the Academy's doors like he owned the place.

After the boy entered the Academy and disappeared from sight, the palpable tension dispersed, and the Hokage announced that he wished all the other students good luck and how he looked forward to seeing the new generation grow into even stronger ninja. Once the Hokage turned his back to the crowd and walked back in the other direction, Sasuke heard his father clear his throat and turned around in attention.

Right before his father could finish opening his mouth to say anything, his brother, Itachi said with a small smile on his face, "Good luck on your first day Sasuke. Now you better run off before classes start after all we have spent too much time as it is."

Sasuke could only nod in a daze as his mind was still bogged down in this most confusing situation he was in. Only to be cut off when Itachi poked him in the forehead with two fingers causing Sasuke to lift his head up seeing Itachi with a smirk on his face, "And remember to eat your vegetables too, or mother will notice."

Sasuke continued staring up at his brother noticing his mother chuckling softly, and his father slowly and minutely shaking his head. _'He completely broke the mood,' _Sasuke thought to himself as he felt a smile blooming on his face in response. Sasuke quickly snapped out of his daze and bowed to his parents and started to walking towards in the Academy.

After finding out his classroom number, Sasuke walked towards the assigned room counting out the numbers to his side. _'How could you not remember the layout of the Academy,' _Sasuke asked himself thinking back on the previous conversation he couldn't help but overhear as it was shouted out. _'It's not that big.'_

Sasuke's thoughts were soon derailed, when he heard a familiar voice shouting through the hallways, "Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! What's your name, sensei?" Naruto stood there with his arm out in front of him clearly intending on shaking the teacher's hand. _'Great, I'm in the same class as the loudmouth,' _Sasuke moaned only to see the look in the teacher's eyes. The clear unmasked hatred. The eyes were so frighteningly cold, yet this Naruto remained unfazed with his arm still awkwardly in the air.

"Just get in the class, demon filth," the teacher snarled. Sasuke couldn't help letting out a gasp and stepping back a little.

And the boy still just stood there with that stupid smile on his face. "Of course, sensei," the boy calmly said as he strolled past the door into the classroom acting as if nothing just happened. Sasuke stood where he was and looked around the hallway.

'_No one noticed?!' _Sasuke practically screamed in his head, _'so much is wrong with this situation! This isn't right._ As an Uchiha, he was raised on the principles of justice and defending the law from all who would break it._ The teacher just called the bright blue-eyed blonde boy a Demon, and the boy didn't even flinch? Instead, he acted like they were simply talking about the weather. Also, I might have only known of the boy for no more than ten minutes at most, but he has never acted so... calm. It almost seemed unnatural. Well, Father told me not to associate with him, but Mother didn't seem to agree. And, Itachi didn't even say anything at all regarding him.' _

Sasuke, then, narrowed his eyes coming to a conclusion in his internal debate and mumbled to himself, "Who are you Naruto Uzumaki?"

* * *

Shino Aburame knew something was not right about the situation he was currently having. He was calmly sitting next to a certain blonde haired boy who clearly needed to eat more or at least change his diet or wear proper fitting clothes. It's just the logical thing to do.

The boy on the other hand seemed to be physically restraining himself from jumping up and down in his desk looking all around the class. '_Does he have too much caffeine or sugar in his system?' _Shino thought which prompted the follow question. _'Who would ever give him any energy stimulant? He looks like a hummingbird whose drunk too much sugar water.'__  
_

What was worst was that it seemed the boy's energy levels seemed to be spiking as if the blue-eyed boy wasn't restraining himself from jumping up and down in his seat but from bouncing off the walls. Then, the boy looked out the window that he was sitting next to with a view of the school's expansive grounds that touch the famous Konoha forest.

Before Shino could blink his eyes, he found himself face to face with the boy in question. The boy's face broke into the biggest smile that Shino can honestly say he has ever seen especially as a member of the astute Aburame clan that took proud in their ability to look at any situation logically and rationally. _'Maybe, this what Father meant, when he said that part of the purpose of the Ninja School was to introduce you to the other aspiring ninjas of Konoha,' _Shino distantly thought.

"Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! It's nice to meet you. One of my sisters told me that it was proper to introduce yourself with your name first unlike our bastard of a sensei," Naruto proudly claimed with his chest puffed out and a face filled with bright white teeth.

Shino was glad he was wearing glasses to hide how his eyes automatically squinted after hearing the last part about their sensei. While he might not have outwardly reacted, he very much heard the comment from the teacher towards the blonde-haired boy in the hallway. _'So many questions that need to be answered,' _Shino thought to himself but reframed from asking. It was only proper of course although his kikaichu bugs that inspected Naruto were vibrating in his hive.

Shino thanked his practice of showing emotions because his eyebrows almost rose to his head. The boy had unheard of chakra levels! Certainly more than anyone he has ever meet in his clan. No wonder the boy could barely restrain himself. Covering up his surprise, Shino calmly responded, "Nice to meet you too Naruto. I'm Shino Aburame."

Naruto simply squinted his eyes and slightly tilted his head as if analyzing every last detail about him until he asked, "Soooo... are you from one of those fancy clans or something?"

Shino merely nodded his head once slightly taken back by the boy's bluntness, "Yes. I am a member of the Aburame clan. One of the four noble clans of Konoha."

Naruto started nodding to himself putting a hand to his chin and using his other arm to hold the one on his chin by the elbow, "I see. So your one of those. What's your claim to fame then? What special abilities do you got?"

Shino decided to simply roll with these questions, "The Aburame clan is renowned for their use of the kikaichu insects which are able to drain chakra from foes."

"Well, I want to see one. Can you prove it? Where are they?"

Shino let a bug fly out of one of his sleeves and in front of Naruto's skeptical face, "We of the Aburame clan use our bodies as a hive for our kikaichu in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship. This is Akali."

"Ha, so the fancy clan child can use his big words. Wow. You're so cool. Well, I'll let you know that I don't see anything to special about your bug friend here, or your clan. So you can take your -," Naruto defensively started to say before Shino could interrupt him sensing an almost drastic change in the atmosphere of the conversation.

"I'm sorry Uzumaki-san. It was not my mention to offend. I simply meant to say that both the Aburame and the kikaichu insects benefit from working together as a team," Shino said trying to defuse the situation that somehow quickly turned hostile. _'He clearly holds resentment towards the clans. Most likely views them as privileged compared to himself,' Shino deduced._

Naruto merely scoffed and looked outside the window folding his arms over his chest and puffing his cheeks out as the teacher silenced the students to start his lecture.

* * *

"Hello class, I will be your sensei for the first year. My name is Tsumemasa Saji, but you can just call me sensei or Saji-sensei," the instructor began and handed a pile of papers he had sitting on the desk in front of the room."Would you take a packet and pass it around, please? Thank you. This packet is the syllabus and will describe Academy policies, personal rules, office hours if you require extra assistance and the course outline for this year. Now, lets start up at the top."

Ino Yamanaka was bored out of her mind as the teacher droned on about the class. She was a clan child, an heir no less, so she already knew everything they were probably going to talk about. Therefore, she did what she always did. She looked around at each of the students looking at how they did their hair, how they dressed, who they were sitting next to, and most importantly was their any drama should could later use as gossip.

"Here at the Academy, we will build the foundations of your ninja career. After all, a tree is only as strong as its roots. I cannot stress the importance of the basics when it comes to learning, so I never want to hear about any student wanting to learn 'a cool flashy awesome technique to one-shot their enemy'. So just get that out of your heads right now."

After all, her father raised her to be a violet flower which embodies a blunt, candid love. And she loved to gossip. Call it the Yamanaka in her. Furthermore, she was reared to cherish the bonds she made with her friends explaining why she sat herself around her young childhood friends Shikamaru Nara who looked like he could barely stay awake and Choji Akimichi who seemed to still be eating. How? Don't ask her. She still didn't understand, and she knew them the best.

"Instead, we will learn the core curriculum like any school of reading, writing, mathematics, science, geography and history. Unlike other schools, however, these lessons will typically be framed in a ninja-context."

She herself had her platinum blonde hair short and reached down to the nape of her neck with the rest framing her face after being put into place by a teal hairpin that –of course- matched her eyes. She had a simple light purple necklace hugging her neck and a light orange V-neck top with black outlines that proudly declared her lineage as a Yamanaka on the sleeve.

"Meanwhile, you will all be required to memorize the Shinobi Rules that you will be required to follow in order to ensure the success of the mission. Later you will be taught the mere basics of ninja weapons and tools like shuriken, kunai and ninja wire to ensure that you do not harm yourselves before learning how to throw and wield them through target practice."

Ino casually looked over to look at her best girlfriend Sakura Haruno noticing that she was still covering her forehead with her light pink hair. Ino still wasn't sure how she got that hair color considering that both her parents had no pink hair on them. '_Maybe it will grow out into a blonde or something,' _Ino groused to herself with her chin resting on her hand that was supported by the desk in front of her, _'and she seriously needs to rethink hiding her forehead with her hair.'_

"Now, classes will be divided into three separate levels. You will be learning these three separate arts with different teachers as I will be devoting my time to teaching you the core curriculum I previously mentioned. Taijutsu classes will be your physical education to help train your bodies and develop your stamina. Spars will frequently be held between students for combat training and as a benchmark for your progress amongst your peers."

Speaking of fights, what was up with that blonde-haired boy sitting next to someone who clearly has no sense of fashion? Honestly, who wears sunglasses inside? Who wears a hooded trench coat when I'm burning up in a short sleeve? Furthermore, what is up with those colors? Grey and some earth green, yuck! Talk about no originality. Everyone wears green in Konoha. So drab. But most importantly, how did they already get into an argument? Classes, literally, just started.

"Second, you will have ninjutsu classes which provide the bulk of what you learn here at the Academy as it differentiates you from a basic soldier. There you will be taught more about chakra, how to manipulate it, and be required to memorize all the Shinobi hand seals. This will culminate into learning the Transformation Technique, Body Replacement Technique and Clone Technique."

Well, at least the blonde had decent enough fashion sense although he could try wearing something that actually fit him. Is he purposefully trying not to make a good impression? Did his parents not have the decency to tell him not to wear that before he left the house? Although it is odd that he has blonde hair, the only other people that Ino knew that had blonde hair were Yamanakas like herself. '_Ah, that's it,' _Ino snapped to herself, _'he is one of those foreigners. Oh how interesting. I wonder where he is from? Hehe, so many questions and not that bad looking especially this blue eyes and exotic whisker marks.'_

"And last but not least, you will have genjutsu classes that will mainly focus on learning how genjutsu work and how to determine if you are trapped in a genjutsu, and how to release it."

Ino continued her prowl landing on the one and only Sasuke Uchiha and sighed to herself dreamily. She could already imagine their fantasy wedding. She would gain his heart and receive all of his warmth and attention as she stood by his side. It would be perfect, just like those princess movies she always watches.

"Also, as a final note, girls must attend kunoichi classes, while boys will continue their Taijutsu training. Girls, you will learn about other cultures and how to blend in to a crowd should you need to perform an infiltration mission."

'_Ah, those must be those flower arranging classes that Daddy told me about,' _Ino mussed to herself as she continued to stare at Sasuke with half-lidded eyes. '_W__ell, I have my work cut out for me.'_

* * *

Choji Akimichi would honestly say that he stopped paying attention to his sensei the moment he ran out of chips. Choji looked down at his blue overalls and green long-sleeve shirt. It wasn't his fault that he was big-boned and required a higher choleric intake than others. It was genetics. Yeah, genetics. Well that or everyone in his clan has a thyroid problem.

Now, all he could think about was his lunch break. Granted it was at eleven in the morning which was an hour earlier than usual because they were new students and the older classmen got to eat at a normal time. Not that Choji was complaining, he could eat at any time of the day. It was something he honestly took pride in as an Akimichi.

Then, the instructor said he was going to stop his lecture early to tell them about lunch policy. Finally, he's talking Choji's language now.

"You get an hour to eat lunch. Because this is your first year at the Academy, you must stay on school premises preferably in the backyard in order to spend more time with your peers," the instructor noted ,"gaining a good rapport with your classmates and future Shinobi is a key principle to Konoha. As I have said before, we value the importance of teamwork above all else. Therefore, it is crucial to have a good working relationship with your future teammates. In other words, scram and go make friends."

"Don't be late coming back to class!" the instructor shouted over the din of the students as they packed their notebooks and pencils back into their bags.

_'Not that I don't want to make friends,' _Choji told himself as he started to follow the crowd of kids outside the classroom,_ 'but I already have Shikamaru. And he understands the importance of food in my life. Plus, he doesn't judge me for being bigger than the other students, and we have been friends since I could remember.'_

Once everyone in the class was outside, Choji and his best friend Shikamaru sat underneath one of the many trees that filled the backyard of the Academy where they were allowed to eat their lunches. He noticed a skinny little boy with blonde hair asking if he could eat with a group of three other boys. Choji guessed they were civilians, as they didn't have any clan markings on them that Choji noticed.

"My parents told me I shouldn't be around trash like you," one of the boys announced.

"Yeah, my father told me you are nothing but trouble," another replied patronizingly.

"Yeah, scram you loser. We don't want to be seen with ya," the third snarled.

Choji's eyes widened hearing the exchange and seeing the blonde's crestfallen expression. Then, the blonde's attitude changed as the marched off with his head held high mumbling about how he was better off without them.

Choji wanted to do something like the tell the three what they did was wrong or offer the blonde to come sit with him and Choji. His heart was kind like that, but he was afraid of standing up to the bullies or being rejected. He looked over to his best friend who was also keenly looking at the interaction and shaking his head in disapproval.

Shikamaru was right. It was all too troublesome, but then he noticed that the blonde was heading straight for the Aburame heir who was sitting by himself at the next tree over.

Choji noticed the boy started to become nervous shuffling his feet and wringing his hands while standing in front of Shino who he knew to be a quiet guy from the few times that have been together. Something about fostering clan relations.

"I'm, I'm sorry," the blonde haired boy quietly said underneath his breath with a slight stutter, "I shouldn't have said those things I said earlier."

"I. I. I overreacted is all y'know. So let's be friends 'kay," the blonde finished with a hopeful smile.

"Why are you here asking for forgiveness now? Because you were rejected by others who you deemed 'normal' just because I am from a clan," Shino replied in a calm and collected voice.

"Wow, I've never seen Shino talk like that before," Choji whispered to his best friend who simply nodded in reply with a discerning look in his eyes. Choji sighed. Shikamaru was looking at this like one of those puzzles he just had to solve.

Naruto stopped acting nervously and quickly straightened his back clearly on the defensive, "Hey now! I couldn't care less about your little bugs that live with ya."

"Well, I would certainly use them differently," Naruto added as a thought. "For instance, I would throw them all over those bastards and their food back there."

"My family," Shino stressed, "is not meant to be used for petty vengeance."

"Tch, you clan folks wouldn't know the first two things about getting vengeance because you've never had a need before living in your fancy clan compounds," Naruto retorted folding his arms over his chest and looking the other way.

"You can't assume to know about someone's life especially someone you have only spent a few hours sitting next to in class," Shino pointed out.

Choji then wanted to take a step back when he noticed Naruto's face bloom into a smile out of nowhere. _'Aren't they still fighting,' _Choji asked himself instinctually looking over to Shikamaru looking for answers. "Well, that's what friends are for right?" Naruto announced.

Even Shino took time to recollect his thoughts, "Well, yes I suppose so." Shino scooted over to the side a little giving room to share the tree's trunk with Naruto.

"Thanks!" Naruto shouted with a bright smile on his face and announced, "We're going to be best friends. Believe it!"

Naruto started to dig out of his backpack for his lunch and then looked up locking eyes with Choji a frown on his face, "Whatcha looking at huh? Got something to say? You've been staring the whole time? Huh?!"

Choji felt his swirl-tattooed cheeks heating up, and his tongue get dry. No one has ever talked to him like that. He didn't even mention anything about his weight even though the blonde seemed agitated at him. How did he even notice I was paying attention? Was I that obvious?

Thankfully Shikamaru came to his rescue, "We were just interested was all. I'm Shikamaru Nara and this is my friend Choji Akimichi. Mind if we eat with y'all?"

Choji noticed a look of pure joy explode across Naruto's face. _'No one should be that happy that someone offered to spend time with them,' _Choji thought to himself but acquiesced and got up with Shikamaru and sat across Naruto and Shino.

Strangely, Naruto's body language quickly started fidgeting as he looked down towards his meal that he recently fished out of his backpack. Choji couldn't help himself from asking, "Is something wrong?"

Naruto snapped his neck up making an uncomfortable amount of eye contact until lightening up and sheepishly scratching the back of his wild head of hair, "Hehe. No it's nothing. I'm just not used to eating with other people my age is all."

"Oh," Choji started to ask why that was until he noticed Shikamaru's pointed look.

"Maaa, don't worry about it, so what's your name? We already know Shino a little," Shikamaru asked.

"Oh right," Naruto chuckled to himself as he continued rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet you Shikamaru and Choji, and umm sorry about my rudeness earlier!"

Choji gave a small smile, "Nice to meet you, too, and don't worry about it. Stuff happens, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied his voice going down a level, "Stuff happens."

Shikamaru quickly rerouted the conversation by asking Shino what he has been up to since they last met.

"Just collecting and observing more insects."

"Found anything interesting," Choji asked. He might not have the same obsession with insects as Shino obviously did, but he could still respect another person's passion. Like him and food. Speaking of food, Choji pulled out his bento box that his mother made with Shikamaru following his actions.

"I found a new beetle species who has stronger jaws than my current colony. I'm currently breeding my colony with the beetles to make them stronger."

Choji noticed Naruto's face scrunch up resulting in an interesting expression with his whisker marks as it made his eyes look like a fourth row of whisker marks. _'Or fifth if you count his eyebrows,'_ Choji observed. "I don't get it," Naruto announced. "What are you talking about?"

"Yes, well, when I find another insect species that can mate with the colony that resides with me and they happen to have a better feature such as stronger jaws, I introduce themselves to my colony. Then, their children will have the stronger jaws, and my colony grows stronger with the next generation."

Naruto nodded to himself, "That sounds cool."

"Yeah, we of the Nara clan use the same principle of genetics and evolution with our deer to create more and higher quality medicines," Shikamaru nodded.

Choji noticed that Naruto went back to his bag and quickly wrote something down on his notebook causing everyone to stop talking for a second. "What?" Naruto asked. "How else am I suppose to remember what you call it if I don't write it down?"

"Fair enough," Shikamaru admitted. "Well, I don't know about y'all, but I don't want to risk not having enough time to finish our meals before class starts again. How troublesome."

Choji smiled to himself as he started to eat from his bento box. He knew that Shikamaru mainly said that for him, or at least so that the lazy Nara could have some time to look at the clouds.

"Ugh, sister packed way too many vegetables," Naruto groused to himself.

* * *

The both of them noticed Naruto walking down the steps at a steady pace with a devious smirk on his face. Shikamaru immediately knew something was about to happen when Naruto kept walking straight up to the teacher despite the clear scowl on his face.

"It was a pleasure, sensei," Naruto drawled with fake sincerity, "I'm sure it will be a wonderful year."

Shikamaru could see Saji's face get redder and his scowl deepen to pure disgust, while Naruto's eyes glistened in amusement and smirk turned into a pure shit-eating grin. "Get out you monster. You might have the Hokage fooled, but you won't get passed me," Saji said clearly restraining himself with each word.

Naruto merely tilted his head to the side with a face of pure innocence, "Oh, I didn't know I was so lucky to have a sensei smarter than the Hokage himself. Maybe I should go tell him he should step down and hand you the hat?"

"Get. Out," Saji growled.

"But I don't understand sensei," Naruto continued in fake innocence, "and isn't it a teacher's job to enlighten their students?"

Shikamaru simply kept sitting in his seat with Choji watching the confusing scene play out in front of them. Shikamaru thought it was clear as day that something was clearly larger at play, and if he was a betting man, Naruto knew it as well. _'But how deep is this game,'_ Shikamaru asked himself, _'and what the hell is going on.' _

If there was one thing that Shikamaru didn't like was being in the dark- ironically enough. Then, all of his thoughts came to a crashing halt when he saw the instructors hand raise up into a slapping motion- Shikamaru knew from experience with his mother, and Naruto kept standing there with that stupid look on his face.

Right before Saji went through with his intention, a flash of clarity swept through his eyes temporarily overpowering his rage. The teacher's eyes narrowed, "I won't play by your game, you little Demon."

Naruto's developed a frown quickly until he returned back to his innocent face, "Well, now I'm even more confused. Am I a Demon or a monster, and what game am I playing?"

"You know what you are," Saji growled, "and what you are doing?"

Naruto merely looked down with a smirk on his face and started shaking his head until heading outside the class leaving behind a fuming teacher. Right before turning out of the door and into the hallway, Naruto looked back with the same smirk, "Hopefully one day you will actually do your job as a teacher and answer your pupil's answers. Well, until then. See ya tommorow Saji-sensei."

However, right before he left, Naruto noticed Shikamaru and Choji were still sitting at their seats and had observed the whole conversation. A look of surprise like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar replaced his smug smirk. Shikamaru merely raised an eyebrow in response and noticing that Saji's face also showed his surprise.

Shikamaru lazily stood up from his seat with Choji mirroring his actions. "Well, Choji it seems we have outstayed our welcome. Let's go with Naruto. I'm sure our parents are waiting."

Shikamaru inwardly smirked to himself, _'You can't forget about the other Shogi pieces in your plans when you play your games of mice and men'_ until he noticed Naruto's blue eyes fill with sadness when he said parents.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend," Shikamaru quickly said to cover up as they walked down the hallway.

"It's okay. I never knew them anyway. They died when I was born in the Kyubi attack, or so says my grandpa," Naruto quietly said under his breath.

Shikamaru didn't need to be an expert on human psychology to know that wasn't good on a child especially since all the adults seem to despise the boy. As they neared the end of the hallway and near the door to the front of the Academy, Naruto added with a tone of slight happiness, "Plus, now I have a family that is actually there for me."

Naruto took Choji's and Shikamaru's sudden stop in front of the door to create distance and open the door. Shikamaru wasn't sure whether or not he really wanted to meet the family that has apparently been rearing Naruto despite his desire to discover this mystery of Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto quickly plastered a giant smile on his face that seemed a little more real than all of his previous ones according to Shikamaru. "Sister! Sister! You came to pick me up at school! I'm so happy!" Naruto shouted out as he ran to a certain brown-eyed young woman who couldn't even be in here late twenties. She wore her wavy long auburn hair down past her shoulders and splayed across her scarlet red kimono with gold colored lacing that also accentuated her curves.

Naruto's 'sister' despite lacking any physical similarities simply chuckled with a small sweet smile, "Of course, I came to pick you up. Wouldn't want you to get lost on the way back home from school, now would I?"

Naruto crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks out in an image of pure petulance that even Shikamaru would consider a cute face especially with those whisker marks of his, and quietly said mostly to himself "No, I wouldn't."

The 'sister' simply tousled his wild hair around for a moment, "Of course not little one. Why would I ever think that? So how was your first day at the Academy?"

If the duo didn't have Shikamaru's full attention, then they did now because Shikamaru could honestly say that he didn't know what Naruto was going to say in response. Speaking of attention, Shikamaru eyes swept the crowd around the duo which formed in an arc around them as if you couldn't get too close or risk infection.

"Well, you know the usual," Naruto shouted in his high pre-pubescent voice. "All the parents told the children not to play with me."

Shikamaru who was walking with Choji towards their parents stopped and blinked once, then twice, _'Well he sure has no shame for stating his opinion.'_

"So no one would talk to me. Well, except for these three other boys, but I'm sure their parents will set them straight."

_'I know no one has really expected much of me, but that was rather low in my books,'_ Shikamaru concluded as he looked at his father and mother for some sort of guidance. While his father kept his face blank and merely rose an eyebrow in Shikamaru's direction to which he nodded, his mother was clearly upset by the event unfolding in front of all the parents. The majority of the other clan parents were the same including his best friend's parents, and the civilian parents seemed to have a face of satisfaction and condemnation towards the small blonde.

"Oh! And the teacher absolutely hates me and even already raised his hand to hit me, so I got that going for me too!" Naruto continued to shout as a silence more awkward than Shikamaru has ever experienced in his life descended outside the Academy.

Naruto's 'sister' bent down and gave him a hug and sincerely said, "I'm sorry to hear that little one. I hope it gets better, but we have a big surprise prepared just for you to celebrate your first day. And, it's their lose for not wanting to be your friend. You remember what I taught you, right?"

Naruto tilted his head up smiling and nodding his head holding a finger up and recited, "Do not concern yourself with what those you are not important to you think about you. Those people are trash who are below you and not worthy of your attention."

_'That's one way to look at things,'_ Shikamaru thought to himself as he closed the distance between him and his parents. Naruto and his sister walked hand in hand as a picture of serenity like an eye of a storm past the crowd without paying any attention to the gobsmack expressions on their faces.

Then, Naruto whispered into his sister's ear, and his sister looked at the father of one of the kids who told Naruto to get lost. She then winked at the man and said, "Sorry Mr. Ari, but we are booked tonight, so come back another night, okay?"

The so-called Mr. Ari's face turned bright red as his wife gave him a death glare, and his son kept his confused gobsmacked face on. The other parents not so discreetly began distancing themselves from the Ari family whispering to their kids.

"So, ummm, how was your day Shika dear?" his mother asked still eyeing the departing duo who were cracking up at their own prank.

Shikamaru kept his eyes on the duo as well and replied, "Beyond troublesome." His father and mother along with the Akimichi family could only nod their heads in response.

"I wonder who the three boys were that talked to him were," the rotund Ms. Akimichi asked as if that was the biggest take-away from everything that just occurred. In response, the other three adults and two children looked at her each with a face asking 'Really?'

"What? Did I say something wrong?" she asked.

"Ummm," Choji began to say digging one of his feet into the hard packed soil with his toes, "that would be us and Shino."

"Oh my," Ms. Akimichi said, "the Aburame boy? Maybe, we should invite them over for tonight for dinner, right dear?"

"Yes, my dear. I feel like that would be best," Chouza Akimichi responded nodding his head as they walked towards Shibi and his son Shino Aburame.

* * *

AN: As you can tell, I am trying to tell a story about Naruto Uzumaki in my own alternate universe, but through other points of view I will flesh Naruto's pre-Academy past more in the next chapter in order to clarify some questions that I have intentionally created.

I hope that my vision is unique and fresh enough to encourage you to keep reading. As you can see, the AU is a little more grittier than Canon (Manga or Anime); however, I can promise you that it will not involve physical abuse (i.e. angry mobs). The majority of the pain in the childhood will come through words and neglect (pain in the heart) as it is in Canon.

I will be updating the chapter regularly as I learn from my mistakes and fix the errors. Also, I will very much be adding content to the chapter until I feel like it is long enough to consider a worthwhile chapter before beginning the next one. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Please feel free the review or send me a personal message. This is my first try at writing after all.


	2. The Family

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not. I make no money off of this.

AN: My first fanfiction ever written. First time publishing to this site. Thank you for your patience. All reviews welcomed.

Shoutout to my beta reader Vavavoooom (a.k.a. ThreePiSquared).

* * *

**Adapt or Die**

_By: Adoredra Fal'Naelra_

**Chapter 2 - Naruto's Family**

* * *

_After Naruto's first day of school._

* * *

Mura Kurmochi was sitting in her oversized red plush chair wearing her usual featureless black kimono watching the excited blonde ball of energy tear through all the gifts her and her daughters wrapped up for him. It was his first day at the Academy after all. Since he wasn't a clan child, it was practically like his first day actually working towards being a ninja.

'_Cute,'_ she thought with a wry smile. '_H__e thinks he is a ninja.' _Mother Kurmochi knew better. She knew better because of experience being a retired kunoichi herself. And a damn fine one at that too if anyone asked her. For instance, she was still alive at the ripe age of 52.

Granted her expertise was mainly in the more seductive type of missions, but still she got the job done and managed to live to see a next day. Over her career, she saved up her hard-earned money, both from mission payments and a little gained on the side from her marks. Technically, not legal, but she never really cared for rules and regulations.

Of course, it all came crashing down when her rather firm assets began to droop and a streak of grey hair developed in her long, dark blue hair. While she immediately was determined to cut the traitorous strand of hair off, she managed in a moment of clarity to take it for the sign it was.

She even kept that strand of grey in her hair as a reminder. Granted she removed any other piece of grey that dared show its ugly face on her head. One was good enough, thank you.

At the time, she evaluated her savings and where she was in life. She had no kids and was too old to have any. Furthermore, unlike various Shinobi she became acquainted with over her years of experience, she never forgot her roots as the child of a whore and a pathetic, spineless worm of a patron.

She lived her early life in a brothel in the seedier section of Konoha with a single mother. While her mother worked herself to exhaustion to provide her little angel, the facts remained the same – she was an illegitimate daughter of a man who couldn't keep it in his pants.

Mura was an observant child and found these truths to be self-evident in her life. Thus, she quickly strived to escape her red-laced surroundings to make a better life for herself. She promised she would never be like her mother, and if she ever met her father, there would certainly be no mercy and nothing to ever prove that he was a male.

As she grew up, she became enamored with the stories of Shinobi. The free life. The master of one's own destiny. The power and strength to not only defend yourself and survive in this misbegotten world, but to thrive and reach levels the drowned masses that surrounded her could only dream of.

Ironically enough, she would go back to the brothel that her mother worked at to develop her feminine wiles as a tool to better perform her duties as a Shinobi. Her mother finally became useful as a mentor on how to seduce the walking dicks of the world.

As a child with little more than the bare minimum, she quickly learned to be financially competent. It's amazing really how quickly you learn from your mistakes on an empty stomach. A fact that the Madame knew Naruto was keenly aware of. She still wonders how that chicken neck of his is still able to hold his giant head and mop of hair up without snapping.

The first true business lesson that she ever taught the child was how to balance his personal finances. He was forced to start writing down how much spending money the Third bequeathed him each week as part of his orphan stipend, and then subtract from it with every purchase he made.

She always secretly loved it when he would squirm under her gaze, when he had to explain the reason for all of his purchases. She remembered fondly the first time he tried to fix his books so that he could spend more money for his useless pranks.

She stopped that nonsense right after he decided to vandalize some shop that refused to serve him. She vividly remembered his punishment and still completely stands by her statement.

"_It's a crime society has done to you for not putting you over the knee and beating your ass red for your insolent behavior," she stated. "Well, you know what they say, 'no time like the present.' "_

'_Ah, good memories,' _Mura smirked as she wiped a fake tear away. '_H__e couldn't sit for days without being in pain.' _She was proud of her disciplining abilities as she spent the following days to teach him how to properly drink tea. Although it was rather ingenious how he simply put his pranking expenses under his ramen account, well, until he gave the wrong number of bowls he bought.

It was going to take a lot more from some green-at-the-gills child to get something like that around her. She was a born-again businesswoman after all, and a damn successful one at that. Those gifts sure as hell weren't bought with hugs and kisses. Well, maybe indirectly if one were to really think about it.

"Oh my gosh, look at this! A brand new kunai and shuriken with their own holsters!" Naruto's voice shouted from the other side of the coffee table surrounded by his sisters and Mura's daughters. "Thank you so much mother! I'll make you proud of me! Believe it!"

Seeing that smile of pure contentment and innocence, even caused her lips to tilt upwards revealing her recently developed crow's feet around her almond-sized brown eyes. She blamed her maternal instincts for gaining those. The same instincts that possessed her to save the child from the streets.

She was escorting a client out of her establishment or rather kicking him out on his ass in the pouring rain onto the muddy streets when she noticed the blonde child shivering like a drowning rat in a nearby alleyway.

She knew the kid was no other than the child that held the Kyubi inside the seal given to him by the Fourth Hokage, yet she could never really cared. If the Fourth could single-handedly bring Iwa to the negotiation table through his unparalleled mastery of the Sealing Arts, then he could put some over-sized fox in a seal with the aid of the Shinigami himself.

Anyone could recognize the blonde hair, blue eyes and whisker marks. It wasn't exactly subtle in a village filled with brunettes with brown eyes that was for sure.

And she used to think of herself as a cold-hearted bitch and seasoned Kunoichi that had seen it all, yet here she was in the cold rain carrying a disturbingly light child inside of a brothel.

Damn maternal instincts.

Truer words have never been said when she told Naruto that society had failed him his whole life that day, as the off-duty sisters bathed him in a hot water bath. His face of pure joy when he felt hot water for the first time literally snapped whatever resignation she was having about bringing him inside the brothel.

Everyone else in Konoha might have failed the boy, the Third included, but she promised herself that day she would not. And if the boy thought she was going to go easy on him, well he was shit out of luck because he was hers now. She liked to think of herself as a mother tigress or lioness.

She might have long lost the ability to have children, but that didn't mean she couldn't be a parent.

'_Ah the next piece in my master plan,' _Mura smiled deviously as Naruto reached for his last present that she personally handed him.

"You do realize that every piece of wrapping paper I find after this will be a spank with a bamboo cane. After all can't be ruining these perfectly manicured hands on your skinny ass," Mura said in a sickeningly sweet voice and smile on her face.

She never said she was running for the mother-of-the-year award. She didn't spend 40 years as a strong independent woman who didn't take shit from anyone to give it all up to some overgrown shrimp. Also, it breaks him of that stupid lovesick, desperate puppy aura that surrounds him when around her and his sisters.

She has had enough men fall to their knees at her heels for one life time thank you very much. She sure as hell didn't some stray off the side of the road to do the same. She wasn't like that pedophiliac snake Orochimaru.

She practically cried to tears of sweet, sweet joy, when she noticed his naturally tan face turn pallid as he scratched the back of his head nervously. Maybe, she'll steel herself and break him of that habit later. Turning those knuckles red with her cherished bamboo stick would be so much fun. He always was so reactive and passionate with everything he did.

His shaky and baby-fat little fingers hovered over the package like they didn't know what to do. _'He probably didn't,' _Mura admitted to herself. He stuck his pointer finger out and started to tear down the package like an over-sized letter seeing a blue cloth. He pulled the cloth out of the hole he made in the wrapping paper practically wrinkling the whole thing Mura noticed.

Naruto lifted it front of his face having to stand up from his seat on the couch and squawked, "WHAT! You gave me a dress? A dress?"

"I'll have you know that I am a hundred-percent man," Naruto proclaimed sticking his chest out like some disgusting chauvinistic macho-man. Although it probably worked better if the blue kimono she bought him didn't look it was about to swallow him whole like the overgrown shrimp he was.

"It's a battle kimono you dimwitted twat," Mura deadpanned until smirking and adding, "and I am more than aware just how _big_ of a man you are." She then held her hand out sticking her thumb and pointer finger out revealing just how big of a man he was. She was sorely tempted to laugh with the sisters.

Naruto's face burst out into the same shade of red as the sister's kimono that escorted him back to the brothel (a.k.a. home) from school as his chubby fingers gathered the kimono to his face. '_Ah, the pleasures of being a mother,' _Mura contently sighed to herself.

"Stop wrinkling your new outfit and pay attention, my big man," Mura drawled out catching Naruto's expression of surprise. "You lack any semblance of grace. The fact that you can hold a teacup without spilling it all over yourself makes me question my belief that miracles don't exist."

Mura pointed at the blue battle-kimono with orange lace that she requested just because it honestly tickled her fancy about how much he somehow loved the color, "That will now be your school outfit in order to teach you how to properly hold yourself without tripping over your feet all the time. Also, the kimono will display every time you screw up because we will all be able to see the wrinkles and damage. Lucky enough for you, we all know how to properly fix and wash clothes, so you get to learn those skills practicing on your own kimono."

"Sometimes I think I picked the wrong retirement job," Mura said out loud with a delicate hand on her chin. "Should have been a teacher. Set all you brats straight."

Naruto shuffled in his seat. Another habit the kimono will break him out of Mura noticed, "But, but, I'll look like my sist-"

Mura held her hand out, "You really do not want to finish that thought, but since your so worried about your big manhood, the kimono is made for people with your certain… endowments."

Naruto's face which was slowly returning back to its natural sun-kissed state regained its flush as he covered his little kunai between his legs. Mura smirked and added as an afterthought, "Oh, and they are made for Shinobi, so you can also attach all your ninja tools as well."

Mura clapped her hands together, "Now. Back to work my daughters. When your done cleaning your pointless mess Naruto, come to my office, so that I can teach you how to fix your kimono which I perfectly folded just for you."

"Can't have you looking bad when you visit your grandfather later today after all. Also, I can't wait to hear all about your day," Mura added as she walked away. She loved her stories and dramatizations with hands waving around his head like a chicken with his head cut off. Honestly, the boy should just quit trying to be a Shinobi and be a storyteller.

* * *

Madame Kurmochi nodded approvingly at the sight before her. Naruto was wearing his recently gifted blue battle kimono with his arms stretched out to the side letting the ends of the sleeves slightly droop, and his hands were a nice raw red from getting all the self-made creases and wrinkles out of the kimono.

She told him how to drink tea and eat properly rather than consume it as quickly as possible. Thank god she found him when she did before that thrice-damned orphanage could give any more bad habits.

Like hell she was going to buy an expensive battle kimono that actually fit him just, so he could outgrow it at the end of the year. She was already spoiling him too much with the orange lace. Plus, he needed to learn to make the most out of what he was given and get the biggest return on investment possible. Get an inch, take a mile.

She knew. She was a businesswoman after all.

Not that he would really have a problem with the last part considering what little he has ever had to his name. He could probably rip the thing in half, and it would be more than all of his possessions and savings put together.

"Now, remember you spoiled brat, the kimono is meant to last for all four years of your studying at the Academy so take good care of it," Mura instructed, "and if I have to buy you a new one because you destroy it, I will literally work you to the bone."

She smiled when Naruto submissively nodded his head losing some of the color in his face. The temptation to pat his head and call him good boy was almost unbearable. Almost.

"Remember everything I told you when you were explaining your first day of school?" Mura asked. The first time and last time Naruto didn't remember everything she said was the first time the brat's rump was introduced to her favorite bamboo cane.

"Yes, mother," Naruto said in a demure tone. Ah, they grow up so fast.

"Where do you focus if you get in a fight?" she questioned.

"Aim for the eyes, ears, neck and groin," Naruto returned. She rose an eyebrow in question. "Even against girls," Naruto sighed.

"And why is that Naruto-kun?"

"Because I need to learn to stop acting like a chauvinistic pig who thinks he is better than women just because he has something dangling between his legs," Naruto answered verbatim looking at his feet.

Mura wiped a fake tear from her eye, "Ah, they truly do grow up so fast. Now, how do we fight?"

"Never fair. Always dirty. No restraint. No mercy. With everything I have. No matter the foe."

"Good. Good." Mura purred. "What are you going to do when you meet your grandfather?"

"I am going to bow and call him Hokage-sama just like sensei told us how to refer to our leader as. He will tell me to simply call him grandfather. I will, and then I will ask if he would like to treat me to Ichariku Ramen to celebrate my first day at the Academy," Naruto said still slightly unsure of himself about this plan.

"And how will you ask him?"

"With my giant cute watery blue puppy dog eyes that melt the hearts of kind-hearted men and women the world over," Naruto sighed.

"Perfect. One last word of advice before you take over the world with your cuteness. Get one stain one that kimono, and you will not go to bed before it is as good as new," Mura warned. No matter how much she wanted to see him in those pajamas with swirls all over them that he just got. Spoiled brat indeed.

Naruto turned swirling his new kimono and walked slowly and awkwardly towards the door.

"Tsk, tsk, Naruto. I thought I taught you better than that," Mura announced with a sad tone and holding her arms out.

She noticed blue eye's widen and a blush of embarrassment flush across his checks as he ran towards her to give her a hug. Or would have if he didn't trip over himself and basically tackle her. Mura chuckled. _'It's like being hit by an over-sized pillow,' _she thought to herself.

"Sorry Mama. I got all excited again. Love you forever and ever," Naruto mumbled with his mouth squished against the fabric of Mura's black kimono.

"I know my child. Oh how I know. Remember the family motto," Mura said with pure sincerity in her voice.

Naruto pulled his face out of her kimono and beamed up at her, "Nothing is better than being underestimated!"

Mura smiled and combed his unruly hair with her manicured fingers. _'You literally cannot tame that hair,' _Mura thought to herself, _'I would know. I suppose that could be used as a metaphor for the boy himself. Good thing I caught him when he was young.' _

_"_That's my boy," Mura said continuing her ministrations eliciting a slight moan from the boy under her hands. _'Damn. I should send some girls to learn how to do a proper moan from this boy. He's so innocent and honest.' _She almost regretted having to being the one to teach him about how terrible this world really was. Not that he really needed an introduction, since the world made sure of it when he was born.

She could steel her heart and remove his ignorance and naive assumptions. It's the least she could do for the boy who brought light back into her life. The saddest part was that he probably would never know how much of an impact his short existence has had on her.

The oblivious little shit.

"Now you better get going before the customers show up," she said while tracing a thumb across one of his whisker marks. She would never tire of hearing the purr that would always rise from the back of his throat. Also, it would distract him from getting on his chauvinistic high horse. Like she needs a brat who can't even walk without tripping over himself defending her.

Just another habit that she had to quickly break him of. Naruto reluctantly nodded his head in response. He always did become a submissive little shit when she petted his whisker marks.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently finishing the rest of his paperwork he had as the Hokage of Konoha and wondering when his young charge was going to finally show up. He even planned his day around the loudmouthed boy charging into his office, pulling out _his_ seat, sitting in it like he owned the place and then shouting about everything that happened with him today. Naruto really should think about being a professional storyteller.

Hiruzen could honestly say that he has never met anyone in his 70 or so years with the level of enthusiasm and passion that young Naruto used to tackle every aspect of his life. Even despite everything that has already happened in the poor boys life. Then again, there really was no one like Naruto Uzumaki in this world.

He would admit that he believed that Naruto was not meant for this world, but not in the sense that everyone else would have interpreted that statement with Naruto's head on a pike.

The soft knocks on the door distracted the Third from his thoughts that were quickly going down a dark path. Hiruzen released a puff from his tobacco pipe that was practically synonymous with the Hokage robes and hat and told the person to come in.

Hopefully, young Naruto would come in and interrupt

Hiruzen could feel his pipe slacken in his mouth and slightly hang when he saw the same whisker-marked, blue-eyed blonde shuffle into the room wearing an expensive Aburame-silk blue battle kimono with orange laces no less.

He had to physically place the pipe in his own hands before it fell out when the same boy he was just thinking about approached his desk gave a bow and called him Hokage-sama. He wasn't the Hokage for nothing though. Hiruzen quickly covered up his brief moment of surprise and never showed the narrowing of his eyes and concluded that this was most definitely Mura's work.

The wily little vixen. Sarutobi knew who the real fox was, and it didn't have nine tails

"Now, now Naruto. Is that anyway to talk to your grandfather?" the Hokage questioned with amusement.

Naruto's face broke into a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head, "Hehe, I was just doing what sensei told us to do when talking to the supreme military leader of Konoha."

The Hokage was never as ashamed of his village as he was when he had to send a personal letter a few hours ago to all of the Academy teachers stating that hitting a child is not acceptable behavior and will be severely punished. No matter what.

"I suppose that is one way to view the position of Hokage," the Third admitted, "but I have worked very hard to avoid that image. I find it that people work on their own volition."

That was one of the many reasons why he would never allow Danzo to become Hokage. The fool would drive Konoha into the ground with his 'good' intentions for the Tree.

"Volition?"

"On their own accord."

"I see. Want to take me to go get some Ichariku Ramen to celebrate my first day at the Academy!" Naruto shouted quickly changing the subject looking up with him with his eyes filled with hope.

'_I do have to finish some of this paperwork though,' _the Third lamented to himself, but he couldn't help staring into Naruto's eyes. _'Damn, puppy dog eyes and damn Mura for weaponizing them.'_

Sarutobi wasn't born yesterday. He knew Kurmochi and of her schemes. If anyone knew how effective she was in the field, then it would be him since he sent her on all the missions and read all the reports.

No one knew a man's mind, heart and soul like Kurmochi. He would never forget when he asked how she was able to be so successful.

_"The problem is, Kami gave man a brain and a penis and only enough blood to run one at a time."_ Truer words have never been spoken.

"My memory might be going out in my old age, but usually people don't ask others to treat themselves," Hiruzen pointed out.

Naruto snorted gracelessly and started using his fingers to point out the reasons, "It's my first day of school. I called you Hokage-sama AND bowed. I'm dressed up. You're my grandfather. You have more money than I do. And where else are you going to give me my gift?"

Sarutobi rose an eyebrow, "How do you know if I have a gift or not?"

Hiruzen didn't know whether or not to be impressed or scared by the look of complete and utter betrayal and hurt that overwhelmed Naruto's blue eyes. His bottom lip was even trembling as he looked at his feet in pain, "You. You. You didn't get me a gift, but. But. But. I thought we were. I. I."

The Third had to stop him with a wave of his hand, "Don't worry young Naruto. I got you a gift." He reached underneath his desk and pulled out a small bonsai tree in a clay pot and placed it on his desk.

Naruto's look of pure joy and happiness washed away all hints of sadness at an honestly scary speed until being replaced by confusion. "You got me a plant," he deadpanned.

"Yes. A bonsai tree to be specific. It's a tool for you to learn responsibility and patience. You must take good care of it, watering and grooming it properly, to keep it strong and healthy. Like the Great Tree of Konoha, it requires constant attention to grow properly," the Professor said.

"Oh, that's nice I suppose," Naruto admitted with a non-plussed expression, until he replaced it with a sad frown. "So the reason why I am so short and thin is because I wasn't properly taken care of?"

Naruto's grandfather audibly sighed knowing somewhere that statement was Mura's doing no matter how true it was, "I will admit that the Orphanage failed you. I was wrong for not checking enough, but leading this village is a very difficult and time-consuming task. Fortunately, it is not too late to fix the damages of the past with the actions of the present to better the future."

Naruto stood up from his face with a solemn face and grabbed the bonsai tree by the clay pot and with a small smile said, "Mama always says that the past can't hurt you anymore unless you let it, so lets head off to Ichariku's, no?"

It was a dark day in Hiruzen's life when he went to the Orphanage to check up on his pseudo-grandson only to be told by the matron that he was not come back yet. In fact, he hasn't returned since a few days ago. Of course, the Hokage would later learn that it was two weeks ago and that these outings were not exactly unusual. Then, he had to ask the matron if there were any other missing children to which she proudly denied.

So, in other words, the Hokage had a missing living container of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the strongest of all Tailed Beasts, that could literally be anywhere. Then, when he asked his personal soldiers, the ANBU, where exactly the boy was. No one could answer until another week later when one of the male ANBU guards admitted seeing the child in a brothel that he visited yesterday when off-duty.

A six year old child that was missing for three weeks was found by the village's symbol of professionalism in a brothel. In a brothel ran by Mura Kurmochi.

The Inuzuka explained that the distinct smells of brothels overpowered the boy's scent which they only had a two week old scrap of clothing to use to track him. The boy's only possession apparently.

On the other hand, the Hyuga clan simply never thought of using their Visual Prowess to look inside the seedier buildings in Konoha. Hell, they all acted like the building didn't even exist, until the Hokage had to practically pull their teeth out.

The sensors apparently simply thought that the strong chakra signature in the building was Madame Kurmochi's.

So here he was, the venerable supreme military leader of Konoha- the largest hidden village of Shinobi in the Elemental Nations- visiting a brothel owned by the best seductress in Konoha's history to retrieve the Nine-Tailed Demon's container and his pseudo-grandson in broad daylight.

Then, he gets the angriest glares he has ever seen in his life by the brothel's employees and ripped a new one by the brothel's owner. Meanwhile, the boy he was there to retrieve was hanging off of Mura's neck calling her mother and the employees his sisters.

The Third could practically hear his heart snapping when he heard Naruto say he didn't want anything to do with him or Konoha because he finally found his real family. A family that actually took care of him and loved him.

At that point, the Hokage knew he screwed up beyond his wildest nightmares and had to leave the brothel in shame only to return saying that he bought him a nice apartment nearby the Academy and his office.

Naruto was actually going to reject the olive branch until Kurmochi told him to reconsider and to at least see the apartment. Of course, when Naruto noticed that the apartment was only three blocks away from the brothel, he acted like he was considering the proposition only to immediately accept it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi really did not want to meet Kushina or Minato in the afterlife. The boy without a doubt would always love a brothel's owner and its employees more than his mother and father that died defending him from the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Only to seal the child's killer inside of him.

* * *

Ayame Ichiraku loved her father, and she loved her job. She loved meeting new people. She loved living in Konoha compared to the little village they used to live in outside of the Hidden Village. She loved her school and her class where she worked diligently.

Ayame could honestly say that she has lived a nice life even though she would always pray to her mother saying that she missed her and wished she were there to enjoy life with her and Father.

Her naivety and innocence regarding the world around her came crashing down one fateful day.

_She was filling out the three extra-large orders for miso ramen with extra pork and fishcakes as was usual for the blonde haired customer._

_"Hey, Naruto," Ayame asked with a serene smile on her face as she placed the first bowl in front of young Naruto. "Why do you like ramen so much?"_

_"Oh, well, to be perfectly honest," Naruto responded through a mouthful of noodles. "I don't really visit for the ramen so to say. This is the only place I have found in Konoha that serves me like a normal person."_

_"What do you mean," she asked confused._

_"You must be new here. Everyone else overcharges me and gives me lower quality food if they even let me eat at their stand," Naruto responded as if he was talking about the weather._

_ Ayame was shocked. In fact, she hasn't been this shocked since her father told her that her mother died, and they would be moving to Konoha. "How could they do such a thing? Why would they do such a thing?"_

_Naruto for the first time since Ayame had met him paused in eating his ramen and replied with his blonde bangs shadowing his eyes, "I ask myself the same thing every day."_

Then, her world really turned around when the blonde came to visit his food and order with the Hokage himself. The legendary God of Shinobi himself. And then started calling him grandfather. While she wasn't as noisy as most teenage girls her age, she couldn't let this opportunity pass her by.

_She discovered that Naruto lived in his own apartment and lovingly adored his 'Mama' and sisters. He also wanted to become a Shinobi like his 'Mama' and be able to defend him and his family. She didn't know why the Hokage's grizzled face turned sad at that. She thought that was a good reason._

_Then, Naruto muttered how he hated being weak in a dark tone that did not belong anywhere near the bundle of sunshine that was Naruto Uzumaki. At that point, the Hokage steered the conversation towards what Naruto has been doing since they last meet a month ago. So they visit each other once a month._

_Naruto proclaimed that he finally got all of his sister's names down. That was odd. He even knew how to write them all down because his Mama was teaching him how to read and write. In fact, he was good enough now to read some action-adventure novel about a spy named 007._

_Soon, Mama was going to teach him basic mathematics, so he could finally get his personal finances in check. Why does a six year old need to handle his own finances? Ayame didn't even handle her own finances, and she was six years older and worked for her father for four. Throughout the whole conversation, the Hokage kept nodding his head and congratulating his grandson on his good work._

_Of course, Naruto had to mention how much better his life was since the Orphanage kicked him out for being a monster and Demon. In fact, he was just getting over his nightmares where the other orphans would bully him and shove him in the cleaning supply closet while the orphanage workers would reward the bullies._

_Then, he simply hopped off the stool and thanked his grandfather for lunch and walked away into an alleyway. Ayame looked over to the Hokage who was still looking in the direction of the young boy. Eventually, the Hokage turned around, offered a small smile thanking her and her father for the excellent meal and left a generous tip before leaving to go in the opposite direction._

So when Naruto and the Hokage walked into the Ichiraku Ramen stand, she simply walked over to them said hello and asked for their orders.

After placing both of their steaming orders of ramen in front of them, she had to ask, "Hey Naruto, what's with the new threads and bonsai tree."

Naruto simply swallowed the ramen already in his mouth a development that his Mama told him and smiled, "I had my first day at the Academy! Although everyone but four people completely ignore or hate me, it was awesome!"

_'The boy certainly did not lose his enthusiasm or honesty,'_ Ayame noted.

"This is a battle kimono that Mama gave me as my school uniform," Naruto announced holding his sleeves out, "and the bonsai tree is from grandfather here. The kimono is to teach me grace and poise, while the bonsai tree teaches me responsibility and patience."

"Wow, those are some impressive gifts you got there then," Ayame's father announced from the kitchen. How he managed to hear everything from the back of the stand, Ayame would never know.

Naruto laughed, "You should all the gifts my sisters got me! I got my first set of pajamas, a sleeping cap, my own kettle to heat up water for ramen and tea, oh and tea, and a dictionary in case I don't know any words. Can't be asking sensei questions in class you know."

"That's wonderful, Naruto," Ayame replied but couldn't help herself from asking. "Why can't you ask you teacher questions though?"

Naruto waved his chopsticks around, "That's because he absolutely hates me. In fact, he almost hit me today."

Ayame felt her face lose its color as she brought her hands up to her mouth and briefly looked at the Hokage whose eyes were shadowed by his kage hat, "Oh no, Naruto, that's terrible."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "Meh, his loss just like Mama says. She says that they don't deserve to get to know me anyway because I'm awesome like that."

Naruto and the Hokage continued to eat their meals talking about what he learned today at the Academy from his illustrious sensei. Ayame could tell that Naruto was being extremely careful not to get anything on his kimono. Although she wouldn't deny feeling a little jealous that he had a better kimono than she did, but he explained how it was not just a kimono. It was a battle kimono made from Aburame silk. Whatever that was.

She chuckled a little when he simply gave up and rolled his sleeves up all the way to his shoulders to which he responded with better safe than sorry. Plus, he didn't want to be up all night trying to get broth stains out of his kimono because apparently he was expected to wear it all four years. There was extra fabric currently sewed up on the inside to grow it out apparently.

After hearing everything that occurred, she seriously wanted to teach those three bullies and parents a lesson and give the three friends Naruto made a big hug and free ramen. As Naruto grabbed his bonsai tree and thanked his grandfather for the meal along with her and her father, he hopped off of his stool.

"Aren't you forgetting to mention something," the Hokage announced while pulling out money to pay for the meal.

Naruto put on that adorable face where he would pout and scrunch up his eyes and consequently his whisker marks.

"Maybe something about your homework," the Hokage smirked.

Naruto used his free hand to rub the back of his head and smiled sheepily, "Haha, oh yeah, sensei gave us this assignment to do at home. Something about handwriting, copying others handwriting and learning how to write like a Shinobi."

"Now, Naruto, remember this and remember this well," the Hokage said turning to face him and putting his face up close to his, "you must always do your homework. It is extremely important. As a Shinobi, you will be given tasks, and you must be able to complete them effectively and on time. Homework is merely a symbol like your kimono and bonsai tree.

Also, you don't want me to find out that you have not been doing your homework," the Hokage threatened. "After all, I gave explicit instructions to tell me all about your assignments. I also happen to have promised Mura that I would hand them to her as well."

Naruto's eyes widened as his Adam's Apple bounced up and down with the near audible gulp he made, "Of course, grandpa."

"I would never have thought about skipping the homework," Naruto said obviously avoiding eye contact. "No not at all."

"Of course you wouldn't," Naruto's grandfather smiled and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Why don't you go home and do it before it gets to late, no?"

Ayame chuckled as she saw Naruto shuffle down the street in his oversized kimono and bonsai tree in both of his hands.

* * *

AN: Thank you for reading my second chapter regarding Naruto's family. This of course being his grandfather, Mama, sisters and Ayame.

Please review to give any constructive criticism or feedback.


	3. The Bastard Child

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not.

AN: My first fanfiction ever written. First time publishing to this site. Thank you for your patience. All reviews welcomed.

Need a new beta reader.

I will be reducing the length of the upcoming chapters. Do not worry, I am not cutting content. You can also expect the new chapters to be released at a quicker rate.

* * *

**Adapt or Die**

_By: Adoredra Fal'Naelra_

**Chapter 3 – The Bastard Child**

* * *

"Holy shit," Kiba Inuzuka said in pure awe. "Where the hell does he get all of these totally hot sisters from?" He needed to shake their father's hand for doing the world a favor.

He heard the blonde's sister say in a gentle voice that completely crashed with her words, "Now remember Naruto. It's the Ninja Academy. Prison rules apply. Be sure to assert your dominance right away. Shank someone in the schoolyard. Only, not really, because I hear they're all about learning and less about violence these days. Use a book, maybe? Shank them with knowledge?"

"And smart too," Kiba muttered to himself. Their pups would be beautiful and smart.

Then, Naruto hugged his sister squeezing his head against her incredible bust and chuckled, "I love you forever and ever."

She laughed with him causing her chest to bounce up and down, while she patted his head. They started talking about something else, but Kiba couldn't care less. He could honestly say he never felt more jealous at this one moment in his short experience of this new thing called life.

Kiba felt his sister, Hana Inuzuka, slap him across the top of his head in disapproval, but he didn't care. His blood left his brain for more… erogenous areas.

"Kiba, listen to me right now," Hana ordered. Who cares what she wants? Look at them curves. They demanded attention. It would honestly be a crime not to. Or it should be if it wasn't.

Then, his brief look at heaven was interrupted by his sister's ugly mug being shoved into his face. Even his companion dog and best friend, Akamaru, who was riding in his shirt whined. Although if he was being perfectly honest and not afraid of what anyone would say, Kiba would admit that his sister was not bad looking at all.

While Hana Inuzuka lacked the feral features common to members of the Inuzuka clan on her round face, she still had the red tribal tattoos on her cheeks and three companion dogs at her side. She probably got the plainness from their father that their mother, Tsume Inuzuka, ran off one day. Not that Kiba could begrudge his father too much, his mother was one crazy alpha bitch even at the best of times.

"Kiba," Hana lectured holding her finger out like the medic-nin in training that she was. "You are not to talk to that young boy's… sisters. Do you understand me? I'm doing you a favor by telling you this and saving you from mother's wrath."

Kiba frowned, "What was the big deal? I just want to get to know the blonde's sister a little more." Like where she found a kimono large enough to fit her rather sizable assets in.

His sister frowned in disapproval, "Okay, lets look at this from a different angle. How would you feel if some horn dog like you came up to me and," Hana said putting a finger on her chin inquisitively. "How did you say it? Got to know me better?"

Kiba couldn't stop the growl that erupted from the back of his throat, "I'd put the bastard in his place and rip him-"

Hana held her hand out, "Now you understand what I am saying. You need to think more about your actions, pup."

"Hey!" Kiba protested. "You are not that much older than me, sis."

Hana put her hands on her hips and smugly said, "We might as well be centuries apart for all it matters. All you do is run around playing with Akamaru instead of doing any of your chores."

Kiba had the decency to look at the ground to his left and mumble, "So what? I like to play with Akamaru is all."

Now, Hana folded her arms underneath her bust, "There is nothing wrong with playing with Akamaru. You simply cannot forget your duties as a member of the Inuzuka clan. We have high expectations for our pups after all."

Then, a bell from the Academy shrilled. Damn, don't they realize there are Inuzuka attending the place? It doesn't have to be that loud.

Even, Hana winced remembering her time at the place, "Well, that's the five minute mark for class to start. Hurry on now. And no shanking anyone with anything, ever."

Kiba chuckled and trudged off to the door along with the rest of the Academy students vaguely hearing Hana continuing to tell him not to get into trouble and be good.

Kiba felt someone bump shoulders with him only to look and see the blonde boy with the hot sisters. "Hey! Watch where you are going!" Kiba shouted along with Akamaru's bark.

Then, he noticed that the boy was wearing a blue dress with orange lace just like his sister and couldn't help bursting into laughter slapping his knees in amusement. Through the tears, Kiba managed to say, "You. You. You're wearing a dress."

He could practically feel the blonde's face heat up in anger. "It's not a dress! It's a battle kimono! And a gift from Mama! And you know what? You can take your opinion and go fuck yourself with it."

Naruto then slapped him across the face. Kiba's brain temporarily shut off as he reached up to touch his cheek that was just slapped and watched the blonde's back disappear into the crowd with both of his hands sticking their middle finger out over his shoulder.

'_Damn,'_ Kiba thought. _'No one has ever talked to me like that but mother. For a dude wearing a dress, he sure does have some balls.'_

Kiba rushed through the other students who were drudging themselves to their classrooms to catch up with this classmate. When he rushed into the room, he noticed that the blonde was digging through his backpack, while the teacher had his hand held out impatiently.

"Here you go my favorite sensei of all time," Naruto claimed as he handed the teacher his homework. "I spent all night doing it just for you. Because I love you like that."

Kiba could practically smell the hate emanating from the teacher but that couldn't give compare to the sight of Naruto's shit-eating grin. The instructor grabbed the paper being waved in his face and harshly slapped it on the pile of other student's homework.

"Get to your seat you brat," Saji ordered to which Naruto responded with a mock salute and marched up the stairs. "Inuzuka-san? Your homework, please."

Kiba responded with a meek smile, "Sorry, sensei. I wasn't able to do it." After all, he had to spend time playing with Akamaru.

"That's not a good way to start off the school year, Kiba," Saji said with a small frown on his face, "I'm sure you were doing something important though, so it's forgiven."

Kiba couldn't believe his ears but put a smile on his face, "It won't happen again. Busy day at the compound, ya know?"

Kiba turned around to go back to his seat he claimed in the back, when another girl asked in a loud pre-pubescent voice, "What are you doing?"

Naruto currently was miming giving a blowjob and looked over at the girl with a raised eyebrow, "Oh, I thought that was obvious. I'm just reenacting Saji-sensei sucking the clan child's cock."

"GET OUT NOW!" the insulted instructor shouted his face red with anger. "Headmaster's office, NOW!"

Naruto simply stood up from his desk, "Sorry sensei. You know what they say. The truth hurts, but then again I didn't want you to get your throat all sore before a lecture. Because I love you like that."

Right before the blonde left the door, he turned around and blew the teacher a kiss, "And remember to use mouthwash. No one wants to taste themselves. You know how it is right?"

Kiba could hear Naruto's loud laughing rebounding through the hallway and the open classroom door over the din of students loudly whispering to each other. He found himself chuckling until he noticed Saji's death glare on him.

"You!" Saji yelled pointing up at him, "Get up here right now! You will be writing down the homework on the blackboard until you get it right! The rest of you, silence!"

Kiba moaned out loud, while Akamaru hid further into his jacket.

* * *

**Two hours later.**

* * *

Kiba sneezed in front of the class from all the chalk in the air from the constant writing he was doing on the blackboard. He was about to complain about how sore his arm was getting, when a total MILF in black featureless kimono dragged in the person responsible for Kiba's predicament by the ear. He quickly learned that he could hate and respect the same person at the same time.

"Sorry for interrupting your class," the MILF introduced clearly not caring whether or not she was. "Naruto," she continued giving a strong pull of his ear. "Don't you have something to say?"

Naruto attempted to claw at the hand on his ear but was stopped, when the lady swatted his petulant hands away like flies, "Hands down boy, or do you want to make sure punishment worse?"

Kiba saw Naruto deflate in defeat and say in a dead voice, "I'm sorry sensei. I shouldn't have told you to stop sucking dick." Naruto began to laugh uncontrollably despite being completely serious when he said it, until the dark blue haired woman slapped him loudly over the head.

"I'm sorry. What I did was really wrong and improper. Can't be telling the truth and all," Naruto managed to finish off before yelping loudly, as he was practically lifted off the ground by his ear screaming. "OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!"

"Boy," the woman snarled in a tone that Kiba distinctly reminded him of his mother. "I don't give third warnings."

As she let him down yet still maintained contact with his ear in clear warning, Naruto submissively lowered his head until the lady that Kiba was quickly associating with his alpha bitch of a mother grabbed the blonde by his mangy hair and lifted his face up to look at the teacher. "Look him in the eyes when you apologize. At least have some dignity," she ordered.

"I'm sorry sensei. I really am. I understand now that what I did was wrong. It disrupted class and was very wrong," Naruto said with watery blue eyes that would put puppy dogs to shame. "How about I write on the board twenty times with my newly developed handwriting skills thanks to your homework that I shouldn't tell the teacher to stop sucking dick," Naruto said tilting his head to the side.

"Oh, that's it," the lady said. "I'm taking things into my own hands."

She pointed at the ruler on the teacher's desk, "May I borrow that for a second Saji-sensei. I've got a lesson to teach real quick."

After being handed the ruler, she frog-marched a god-fearing Naruto out of the door by his abused ear. Meanwhile, the whole class kept silent including the teacher who seemed to be taking everything surprisingly in stride considering that he was recently told at least three times today to stop sucking another student's dick.

Everyone heard through the closed door Naruto's scared voice, "Why are you-? No! Put it back down! NOOOooo-" followed by a harsh slap that bounced off the walls.

"That's cute. You think you can tell me what to do. You know what they say, 'Spare the rod, spoil the child'," a deathly sweet voice lectured followed by another smack.

"Plus, I wouldn't want to ruin that beautiful kimono I bought you."

Three smacks each with their accompanying high-pitched yelp followed Mura's statement.

"Honestly child," another slap and a yelp turning into a scream. "It's the second day of school."

Two smacks with a high-pitched scream.

"I had to stop what I was doing." Smack. "Rush down here." Smack. "Because you." Smack. "Couldn't keep your wise-ass mouth" Smack. "Shut" Smack.

"Now then Naruto. Look at me when I'm talking to you! Have we learned our lesson today? Will we need another lesson? No? Good. Good. And some people say you aren't a fast learner. Let's go back inside. You have already wasted enough of everyone's time with your stupidity."

Kiba unabashedly stared as the duo entered the room. One with a satisfied grin and the other wiping away tear stains with the palm of his hand. The lady handed Saji-sensei back his cracked wooden ruler, "Thank you for that."

One of the boys in the middle of the room started snickering at the sight of Naruto now delicately rubbing his rump over the kimono. It became rather obvious that the lady pulled Naruto's kimono from the back and pulled it over his head from the wrinkles and pushed down hair.

She then pointed directly at the boy, "I'm not afraid of offering another lesson. And if you think I care who or who your parents are, then I will be more than willing to re-educate you myself."

Kiba had to restrain himself from laughing at how quickly the boy's face paled and the speed at which he was shaking his head side to side.

The lady on the other hand had her smug smile back on her face, as she put her hands on her shapely waist. "Ah, " she announced. "I knew I should have been a teacher. Set all you brats straight. Oh well, always the next life, right?"

Everyone paled at that thought. "But I'm a generous teacher after all," she said craning her head down to the blonde, while the rest of the class's mouths were hanging open. "Right Naruto?"

"Yes Mama," Naruto whispered making sure to make eye contact. '_What the hell,' _Kiba yelled in his head. _'She's his mother! I have to keep her away from mine at all costs, or I am doomed.'_

"So here are your choices my dear Naruto-kun. You can either write your homework down on the blackboard twenty times like you previously offered, or you can take a nice relaxing seat at your desk and write it down on a piece of paper?" Naruto's mother offered.

"The blackboard! The blackboard!" Naruto promptly answered as he covered his rear with his hands.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit down? Wouldn't want you standing for such a long period of time," Naruto's mother worried with the evilest look on her face. "You know how I don't want you to suffer."

Everyone sweat-dropped at that one, while Naruto started to wave his arms around in a placating fashion, "No! It's fine. I promise. I'll have it all written down in no time. Believe it!"

Her foot started to methodically tap against the floor as she looked at her wrist, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Naruto rushed over to the blackboard picking up a piece of the chalk and started writing down the homework while looking at Kiba's previously written ones.

"Don't get chalk on your kimono!" she ordered from the sidelines.

"What is that? Chicken-scratch? Erase it and start over! The dog wrote better than that." Kiba took minor offense to that.

"You'll run out of room at that rate. We can't have that. Here let me pull up a chair for you to stand on." Naruto scampered up the chair to start writing again with embarrassment flushing his whiskered cheeks. Kiba almost pitied the blonde. His mother was a total bitch and not in canine terms.

"I don't know if that is good enough. What do you think sensei?"

It took a few seconds for Saji to comprehend that someone asked him a question before he slowly replied, "I believe so."

"Well, it doesn't matter. You wrote it too slow. What if you need to write down orders quickly on the field? What then? Are you going to ask your superior office to repeat himself? What if sensei is giving a lecture, and you can't take notes quickly enough? Are you going to interrupt class again to ask him? Are you going to inconvenient a classmate or friend to borrow their notes because you are too slow? I'm not going to raise some dim-witted child that has to rely on others, and you can take that to the bank."

Kiba had never seen anyone write as quickly as the blonde was. Of course, he had to redo the first ten or so times to keep them up to standard as the first one. Before he knew it, Naruto was speedwriting script at a higher quality than Kiba's mother. Kiba looked over at Naruto's mother who had a satisfied look on her face, as she watched her soon write.

"Good. Good." She said. "Now go put the chair back."

After Naruto did so, she beckoned him over to her side, "I believe you have something to say to your class and teacher for wasting all their time."

Naruto quickly nodded his head and bowed to his teacher and then again to the class, "Sorry, Saji-sensei and class for wasting your time. I won't do it again."

"Well, I'm glad I was able to clean this mess up before it became a bad habit," Naruto's mother announced. "If there are any more problems sensei, then please notify the headmaster immediately."

She then looked down at Naruto who found the other side of the room very interesting, "And you really don't want me to come back, little one." Tapping her foot to the ground, "Are we forgetting one of the first lessons I taught you already Naruto? Brain filled to brim already?"

Naruto flushed and turned around to hug his mother, "Love you forever and ever." Meanwhile, his mother patted his head like an obedient puppy.

"And they said I would be a terrible mother," the lady said to herself. "Oh and just as a warning to you," she said pointing directly at Kiba. "If I see you looking at me anywhere but my face, they won't be able to find all the pieces of your body."

Kiba gulped and frantically nodded his head up and down. The scary lady nodded to herself, "They do say teaching is its own reward. I have to say I agree. Maybe, I should sign up to be a substitute teacher? Hmmm, I'll have to look into that."

She swirled her black kimono around leaving Naruto standing in front of the class with Kiba and their teacher, until she turned her head around with a smirk, "Shouldn't you be at your seat… Naruto-kun?"

Kiba could see Naruto's face lose its color as his hands immediately covered his bruised butt.

Saji-sensei cleared his throat, "Thank you for your time Kurmochi-san. If that is all, then both of you boys can return to your seats. I do have a lesson to teach after all." Kiba could smell the smug satisfaction radiating from the teacher.

Kiba hiked up the stairs and dejectedly placed his chin on the desk, while he saw Naruto slowly lower himself to his seat. Now it was Kiba's turn to get smug satisfaction at the drawn out hiss that the blonde couldn't stop from escaping his lips, as he finished sitting down by that weird boy in a trench coat.

"Did you say something Uzumaki-san?" the instructor politely asked with no sincerity.

Naruto grounded his teeth out to keep from whimpering and replied with a glare, "No sensei. Just to eager to learn your lesson for today is all."

Saji-sensei enthusiastically clapped his hands together, "Perfect. Class take out your history textbooks, and we will talk about the Warring Clans Period that existed before the current Shinobi system developed."

Kiba groaned and burrowed his head in his hands. He forgot to bring his history book.

"It seems as if you forgot your history book with your homework too, Inuzuka-san?" Saji's sickening voice assaulted Kiba's ears. "I suppose you'll have to have someone share with you. How about you Uzumaki-san?"

Kiba winced at the look of pure rage emanating from Naruto's whole being as he replied carefully measuring each word, "It would be my pleasure, sensei." Naruto placed his hands against the desk and pushed out harshly scrapping the chair against the floor forcing Kiba to cover his sensitive ears. After putting his backpack over one shoulder and the textbook under his arm, Naruto walked over to him with a limp in his step.

Once again taking his time to take a seat with a painful grimace, Naruto turned to look Kiba in the eyes and put the biggest and fakest smile Kiba had ever seen on his life. "It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow or even this year. But I will pay you back. With interest," Naruto whispered through his teeth. "And that is a promise. And Naruto Uzumaki never breaks his promise. After all, my word actually means something unlike you spoiled clan children. It's the only thing I've ever had after all. Not that you would know from your _compound _that you were so busy with yesterday, but that's cool. I spent hours working hard on the assignment, while you had a 'busy day at the compound'_. _And on top of all of that, you can't even bring your goddamn book to class. Piece of worthless shit."

Kiba had never felt guiltier in his life.

Naruto then stuck his hand out and said out loud for everyone to hear, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Let's be friends. Forever and ever."

Kiba managed to put a timid smile on his face, "Hi, I'm Inuzuka Kiba. Nice to meet you too. Sorry about forgetting my book."

"Oh. Don't sweat it," Naruto said with a wave of his hand. "That's what friends are for. Anytime. Anywhere," Naruto finished with devious glint in his eyes.

Kiba gave a fake chuckle to hide his fear of the blonde, "For sure."

"If you are both quite down," Saji-sensei interrupted. "I'd like to start my lesson that I prepared now." Kiba gave an affirmative nod, while Naruto simply tilted his head to the side with a fake smile plastered on his face.

The moment Saji-sensei dismissed class for their lunch hour, Naruto immediately stood up and starting rubbing his rear with no shame. Kiba could not nor would begrudge him. Although while they were sharing the textbook, he couldn't help but wonder about a few things other than Naruto's weird ability to change his attitude on a dime.

For one, where did Naruto get those whisker marks on his cheeks? They were clearly not tribal tattoos like those of the Inuzuka clan. In fact, they looked more like birthmarks than anything else. Yet, Kiba couldn't think of one example of someone having such perfect birthmarks. A normal birthmark would be a simple discoloration of the skin. Those whisker marks were not some simple discoloration.

On a side note, Kiba had never seen anyone with eyes those deep of a blue or hair that bright of a yellow. Furthermore, the blonde's hair was a complete wild mess. Granted it looked like someone tried to tame it, but it also looked like they completely failed and gave up right after they started. Hair that tangled and spiky simply would not be put down.

Secondly, his canine teeth and incisors were abnormally long, as they were similar to Kiba's that were the result of him being of Inuzuka blood. Of course, the more vulgar claimed that the Inuzuka clan committed bestiality, but those people never did last very long for some reason.

And last of all, Kiba smelled a faint trace of fox of all things to the boy's scent. At first, Kiba or Akamaru couldn't pin down the smell for the life of them until Kiba thought of all the possible animals that had whisker marks. The only reason Kiba even knew what fox smelled like was because of the annual fox hunts that the Inuzuka clan ritually performed every October.

Kiba never really liked those. Everyone seemed to be so serious and acted like wild animals releasing pent up aggression. He and his sister quit attending those together after the second one, when a clan member really did go berserk attacking anything in sight. Kiba could still vividly remember the bloody scene that assaulted his nose. It was just a small, red-furred fox that naturally inhabited the First Hokage's woods.

The whole Inuzuka clan soon found themselves doubling their control lessons. One of the first lessons an Inuzuka clan member learned was to not lose themselves to their baser nature and go feral.

Hana and Kiba were both promptly sworn to secrecy over the event and told to forget about it. Something about secret clan history being brought back to the forefront due to some event a decade ago, when a few Inuzuka went feral.

Also, it would make the Inuzuka look bad before the other clans of Konoha ruining all the hard work the Inuzuka have done to get a good image of fierce loyalty towards the pack. Konoha being conveniently included into the pack.

Although Kiba did not know it, the Inuzuka clan were wild and savage during the Period of Warring Clans until being tamed by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. Before this, the Inuzuka would raid, pillage and plunder any land that they passed through like a scourge. This was finally stopped only when the two founders of Konoha killed the majority of the clan because the majority had become feral. Unable to deny the power of Inuzuka blood and their canine companions, Hashirama and Madara offered the saner and quelled Inuzuka and their pups a place in their newly founded village.

Because of their rash behavior and small numbers after being effectively culled, the Inuzuka clan were not considered as a Noble Clan despite joining around the same time as the Hyuga, Akimichi and Aburame.

Nonetheless, Kiba decided to do things how he always did them. With the least amount of thought possible, "Yo Naruto. What's up with your whisker marks and looks and stuff?"

If Kiba bothered to pay attention to his surroundings like Akamaru was doing for him, he would have noticed that everyone was looking at the pair with an especially intent look from the instructor.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, as he was prone to do, "Why I thought that was obvious Inuzuka, I'm the misbegotten bastard child of your prestigious Inuzuka clan and a member of the Yamanaka clan." He finished with a smile intentionally showing off his long and sharp canines for everyone to see.

Kiba distantly heard Ino gasp and mumble something about juicy gossip, while the instructor nodded thoughtfully as if solving a theory. At the same time, Shikamaru, Choji and Shino shared a look and nodded to themselves in understanding of the blonde's hatred for clans.

"There is no way," Kiba refuted. "Your mother is neither an Inuzuka or a Yamanaka."

Naruto immediately refuted in cold anger, "That's because she adopted me, you ass. Because your precious clan and the Yamanaka's abandoned me, when I was born during the Kyubi attack."

Kiba's foot finally met his mouth.

Naruto rushed packing his textbook and school supplies and stomped down the steps to go to the schoolyard. After the blonde left the room, Kiba felt himself under the gaze of everyone remaining in the room, sensei included.

"What? Was it something I said?" Kiba sheepishly smiled, while Akamaru hid his eyes with a paw shaking his head back and forth. The Inuzuka companions sometimes acted a little too human. This was especially true when someone discovered that some companions developed the ability to talk like Kiba's mother's companion, Kuromaru.

The rest of the class shook their heads and started packing their own backpacks to go eat lunch. When Kiba finally made it into the schoolyard, he saw three boys from a different class around his grade's age walking up to Naruto. If Kiba remembered correctly, one of those boy's last names was Ari because his father got humiliated in front of everyone yesterday by one of Naruto's hot sisters.

"Hah, look at this boys," said the Ari boy. "This piece of trash is even dressing like one of his whores of a sister."

Kiba froze with the rest of the class and a low growl emanated from his throat. No one ever insulted someone's fellow pack member and walked away from it. It literally went against everything it meant to be an Inuzuka.

Despite beginning to see red, Kiba heard Shikamaru mention how troublesome this situation was. Kiba wanted to retort and say troublesome did not even begin to describe what was going on, but he couldn't quite trust his voice at the moment to sound human.

Kiba noticed that Naruto's fingernails looked longer than they were back in class. A lot longer if Kiba were to be precise. Before Kiba could ponder that development any more, the insulted boy's fist blazed forward with the rest of his body backing him up to be hastily blocked by the Ari's arms blocking his ugly mug.

Naruto almost immediately took advantage of the opening by using his other fist to viciously jab the boy's throat like a snake forcing the boy's hands to go around his throat making choking noises.

The blonde, however, did not quit there. His leg lashed out powerfully nailing the boy in his man parts forcing Kiba to wince for his fellow male. Now, the teary-eyed brunette brought his hands down to his groin hunching over in pain.

Naruto's response was to then grab the brunette's hair with both of his hands forcing his head to meet a blue kimono clad kneecap. The brunette staggered backwards a little, until he lost complete control of his motor skills and gracelessly crashed on the ground.

Not done yet, Naruto stomped the fallen boy's solar plexus with all of his weight knocking the wind out of the brunette's lungs. Naruto then straddled the boy with his knees who was losing battle with consciousness and began to pummel the defeated boys face with his fists.

By the time a concerned teacher charged into the fray, the Ari boy's eyes were swollen shut, his eyebrow was busted open, a broken nose, and he had multiple swellings and cuts littering his face. Meanwhile, Naruto's knuckles were dripping blood all the way down his claw-like hands and on to the brunette's shirt, as another classes' teacher forcefully dragged the blonde away from the beaten boy.

The sensei's hands were clasped behind the blonde's head, and his arms were underneath his armpits. For the first time since the fight started, Kiba and the rest of his classmates got a good look at the blonde's front.

Naruto's chest was heaving up and down due to the adrenaline of the fight pumping through his veins. His deep blue eyes now seemed to be red rimmed with an undefined purple border ringing the remaining vestiges of deep blue. His normally round pupils were slits like Kiba's and his fellow Inuzuka clansmen, and he had two sparkling streams of tears running down his whiskered face. His whiskers too were different. They seemed darker and deeper in his cheeks.

The rest of his face was contorted into a fierce snarl looking at the Ari boy. Kiba noted that his canines grew even too and were noticeably poking out of his mouth and resting on his bottom lip. Bastard child of an Inuzuka indeed.

Saji-sensei rushed past Kiba shoving him to the side to see the same sight. "Keep the Beast there! I'll go inform the headmaster right away," the teacher commandingly shouted to his co-worker.

Kiba then heard a cough from the other side of the schoolyard along with the rest of his classmates and teachers only to see the Hokage himself walking over.


	4. Behind the Scenes

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not.

AN: My first fanfiction ever written. First time publishing to this site. Thank you for your patience. All reviews welcomed.

When I was reading fanfictions, I never really understood the importance that author's placed on reviews, favorites and follows. Now I do. I can honestly say that every time I get an e-mail with a review, favorite or follow it brightens up my day and makes me want to write more.

I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has already done so, and those who plan to. Once more, I cannot say how thankful I am for them. Keep them up.

* * *

**Adapt or Die**

_By: Adoredra Fal'Naelra_

**Chapter 4 – Behind the Scenes**

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The Hokage was currently smoking his pipe in the early morning silence while finishing his first stack of paperwork. As he was prone to do in his old age, he began thinking about the future of Konoha, the Fire Nation and the Elemental Nations in general.

Hiruzen knew that the future always rested in the upcoming generations, as he told his youngest son, Asuma, over a game of Shogi what the 'King' piece really represents.

As a result, Hiruzen was thinking about his pseudo-grandson Naruto Uzumaki.

The Hokage knew beyond a shadow of doubt gained through decades of experience that the future would revolve around Naruto's decisions and actions. He just had to make sure that despite being lonely, miserable, shunned and discriminated against that Naruto didn't grow to loathe humanity and Konoha.

No big deal.

For starters, Naruto was the first known Jinchuriki of the Kyubi although the amount that of people that knew was currently being kept constant. It would truly be a miracle if none of the other nations knew that Konoha at least had a jinchuriki of the Kyubi.

Sarutobi wouldn't be the Hokage if he underestimated the other Kages to believe that a Tailed Beast could actually be killed. In fact, the amount of people in Konoha that actually believed it was a little disconcerting to be honest.

Nonetheless, Jiraiya, Naruto's secret godfather, removed spies and traitors caught attempting to sell Naruto's secret to other villages, while he was chasing after his old teammate and best friend Orochimaru. If Hiruzen was honest to himself, he was glad that Jiraiya hadn't learned of Naruto's upbringing at the Orphanage and consequently his brothel family. After all, Sarutobi had constantly been sending messages assuring Jiraiya of Naruto's well-being.

Meanwhile, the Konoha Military Police Force whose forces mainly comprised of Uchiha clan members strictly adhered to the Third's law regarding the true fate of the Kyubi. That was another issue that has been giving the Hokage a few headaches lately. The Uchiha were becoming increasingly unpopular with the villagers and fellow Shinobi.

First, a rumor started claiming that the Uchiha were responsible for the Kyubi attack citing Madara Uchiha's ability to control the Kyubi during his defeat against Hashirama Senju at the Valley of the End. If the Uchiha weren't responsible, then they for sure did not do enough in defense of the village. They should have used their Visual Prowess to force the rampaging Kyubi to flee Konoha or make it tame enough for the Fourth to take down without sacrificing his life.

Unfortunately, it was the Hokage himself who told the Uchihas not to involve themselves during the Kyubi attack. Agreeing with Danzo, he simply couldn't afford to give that much power to Konoha's most powerful clan.

Furthermore, the Uchiha were never that well liked by the populace in the first place, as they were the ones that cracked down on rule breakers and maintained regulations. Everyone always did find their distinctive eyes to be unsettling and flat out creepy. Also, the Uchiha clan were never very becoming in the first place thanks to their overzealous pride. This was all further exasperated by the Uchiha clan complex being walled off 'outside' of the village in terms of authority and politics.

Secondly, the rumormongers used the Uchihas cracking down on the Third's law, as proof that they were telling the truth about the Kyubi and that the Uchiha clan were protecting their Demon Child. Ironically, the Uchiha hated Naruto with a greater passion than the rest of the village. They blamed the poor child for all of their current political and social problems and forced to defend the child anyway.

Hiruzen knew all of this and ordered ANBU to trail Naruto for his own protection, when he was an infant. The Hokage would laugh when he visited Naruto at the Orphanage, and the young child would talk about the scary masked men that would watch him.

What was not so funny was apparently the ANBU didn't do there job nearly as good, as they could have if Naruto was being bullied by the caretakers and fellow orphans. Also, they clearly failed the job when someone who just learned how to speak could see the ANBU. The whole point about secret covert operations was not to be seen, and here was a recently potty-trained boy pointing them out in broad daylight.

Sarutobi would need to check one day if Uzumaki's were capable of being sensors, or if his elite professional troops were truly that lax.

The First Hokage Hashirama Senju's dream that Jinchuriki would be protected and well-taken care of in honor of the individual's sacrifice to host a Tailed Beast inside their body. Instead, Hashirama's dream was perverted beyond imaging as they were treated as weapons of mass destruction to be used against the village's enemies.

This became abundantly clear during the three Shinobi World Wars. In fact, thanks to Iwa's two jinchurikis, Iwa was winning the Third Shinobi World War after they slaughtered two platoons of Konoha Shinobi.

Furthermore, the First detested how others sought the tailed beasts out as tools to be controlled. Hiruzen can remember the disgust in Hashirama's retelling of his victory against Madara Uchiha in the Valley of the End when referring to how Madara considered the Kyubi as a pet.

Although Hashirama wasn't innocent himself, he sold the Tailed Beasts to other Shinobi villages that he captured with his Wood Release in exchange for peace treaties and to stabilize the balance of power between the newborn Elemental Nations. While admirable, the First's dream for peace was ultimately just that a dream.

Hiruzen could not thank Hashirama's brother, Tobirama, enough for establishing Konoha's infrastructure including the Academy, ANBU and the Military Police Force. While Hashirama was the soul and heart of Konoha, Tobirama was the brains behind the operation.

Both of their influences could be easily seen today. Tobirama in the daily operations of the village and Hashirama's Will of Fire present in all true Konoha Shinobi.

Of course, nothing ever goes normal with Naruto, so when the Hokage tried to explain the concept of the Will of Fire to the young child it blew up in his face. While the blonde accepted the idea that love is the key to peace at face value, he completely rejected the notion that the entire village was like a large family unit and every Konoha Shinobi with the Will of Fire loves, believes, cherishes and fights to protect the village, as previous generations had done before them. It was this belief Hiruzen told young Naruto that gave Konoha Shinobi the strength to continue fighting against all odds, building will power and strength of character.

Naruto explicitly expressed that he was glad his parents died because if they had treated him like the village did he would probably have committed suicide or worse. Hiruzen had the decency not to continue that conversation, as he learned that Naruto praises all of the gods in the world in thanks for giving him an actual family that actually loves him.

The Hokage swiveled in his chair to look out over the village. The slight problem for the future was that the fate of the world depended on a neglected and rejected child who follows every word of a man-hating and jaded brothel owner with over thirty years experience seducing and assassinating men.

'_If only people knew with what little understanding the world is ruled,'_ Sarutobi thought to himself.

The Hokage knew he was a little unfair in his worry about Kurmochi's maternal relationship with Naruto. Unfortunately, the Hokage couldn't escape the nagging in his back of the head that she used the exact same mode of operation as his wayward student, Orochimaru.

The snake had a sick tendency to pick up strays that were in desperation. Thus, he would gain the undying loyalty of those who had nothing because Orochimaru would give them a single act of kindness. What was worst was the fact that Orochimaru's little fetish for orphans was a perversion of Jiraiya's attempt at being a teacher with the three orphans he picked up while fighting in the Land of Rain.

He was probably being too harsh on Kurmochi though. With no mincing of words, Mura explained to him that if she never found Naruto after throwing out that drunk Hiruzen wouldn't have to worry about finding his pseudo-grandson in a brothel but rather facedown in a dirty ditch or filthy alleyway.

At which point, the Hokage wouldn't have to worry about keeping Naruto's condition a secret because the Kyubi's chakra would be leaking out like a miasma. At which point, Konoha would be in pure pandemonium, and the Third's little stack of cards would come tumbling down.

With so much chaos, someone would do something stupid. And when they did, things would turn nasty.

And by nasty, Kurmochi meant the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi World War. Although this would be the first one to have a nickname, 'Naruto's War.'

It was disgusting how quickly the Third could envision the war. Jinchuriki always had a soft spot in their heart for their fellow Demon Containers. The Jinchuriki of the Eight-Tailed Beast and Kumo's beloved guardian and also the Raikage's brother would without doubt demand retribution along with the vessel of the Two-Tails.

Next, Kiri's Kage himself was the container of the Three-Tailed Beast. Maybe even the rogue Six-Tails' container would join Kiri in their war against Konoha.

Konoha for sure could not rely on Suna to come to their defense despite multiple treaties detailing a mutual defense pact. And who knew what the status of their One-Tailed Beast was?

Taki's Seven-Tailed Beast's jinchuriki was directly related to their leader and wouldn't lift a finger so much as a tail in Konoha's defense.

Although Iwa's jinchuriki were current out of commission in the sense that they stopped working for Iwa after the end of the Third War (They weren't exactly people persons, and their abilities were too flashy), they would quickly find themselves on the front line sweeping past Konoha's defenses just like in the Third War.

Thus, because a few villagers could not see a six year old in lieu of a Nine-Tailed Fox Demon and protectors who couldn't care less, Konoha would lose its image carefully cultivated since Hashirama and Madara founded the Village Hidden in the Leaves and immediately find themselves beset on all sides by enemies with no allies in sight.

The Hokage shook his head of the deeply disturbing rabbit hole he was going down and turned around to pull the scrying orb from its drawer. He would forever be awe of Mito Uzumaki's skill at the Sealing Arts. The woman managed to place an entire detection barrier around Konoha that was constantly monitored to this day by a Detection Division using the Sensing System Technique and a five member Interception Division.

Hiruzen dragged himself back to current affairs regarding his pseudo-grandson. He knew Naruto's teacher hated him. The Third had to personally remind the instructor that he did not want useless ninja especially one that could die releasing the Kyubi back into the world.

A lie. The Kyubi would die with Naruto according to the seal on Naruto's stomach, but the Third Hokage was suspicious that any seal could remove such a vast amount of chakra. If only one wisp of the Kyubi's chakra escaped the seal, then the wisp of Kyubi's chakra would grow using the latent Chakra in the world to eventually reform the Kyubi to his prime.

At the same time, Naruto would need to grow a tough hide. People would not like him including superiors and fellow Shinobi, and the quicker Naruto accepted that fact the better.

Also, Sarutobi was glad that Naruto finally started the Academy. With Naruto not spending the majority of his day inside of a brothel, the Hokage could finally use his scrying orb. He really did not want to explain to the person who caught him why he was using his scrying orb to look into a brothel. Knowing his luck, the person who caught him doing it would probably be a female.

That would be a public relations scandal like no other and would permanently defame the venerable position of Hokage. Also, the look on Kurmochi's face, if he were caught, would be too much for him to handle.

At the Academy, Naruto would be able to spend time with other kids his age. Kids who did not know about Naruto's secret. Unfortunately, the parents' hatred towards the blonde passed down to their offspring, and as a result, they too shunned the Jinchuriki. Apparently, Naruto has decided to take the first swings on that front outright ostracizing all other children especially clan members.

Naruto's hatred for all clan and seemingly civilian children would not be good for his career as a Shinobi especially, since he was immediately shunning basically the whole entire Ninja Corps. Ironically enough, Naruto was ignoring them without giving a time to prove themselves just like they were doing to him. Mutually assured destruction.

At least Naruto on some level knew his hypocrisy, when he apologized to the Aburame heir and quickly befriended the Akimichi and Nara heir too.

The Hokage would admit that Naruto's disdain for clan children was a result from when Naruto stormed into his office one day demanding a list of all other Uzumakis in the village. Unfortunately, Hiruzen had to notify the boy that they were all dead.

Unfortunately, the Hokage had to lie to the boy and inform him that his last name was not Uzumaki due to blood but rather as an honorary name. Naruto's last name was given to him in honor of his unknown parents sacrifice defending the village from the Kyubi attack. The reason why the Hokage knew that much was because of the young child's chakra levels that was above those of a civilian.

The Hokage simply could not afford Naruto assuming he was the child of Kushina Uzumaki and begin trying to connect the dots to determine his father as well. Naruto finding out or being informed of his parentage was going to be someone else's bucket of worms to deal with. He was too old for that shit.

The boy then demanded all documents relating to the Kyubi attack because he wanted to know every last detail about his parents' deaths. The boy claimed it was the only thing he could link to his biological parents, and he demanded it as his right.

Of course, the Hokage could have denied him his self-appointed right, but Hiruzen feared that rejecting the child's demand would lose all of the child's remaining trust.

The next day, the Third showed up at Naruto's apartment and gave him a pile of carefully screened documents relating to the Kyubi attack. If anyone deserved to know the details of that fateful night, it was Kyubi's container.

The Hokage realized his mistake of giving Naruto all the documents at once because he apparently holed himself away in his apartment committing every word on every document to memory. That could not be healthy.

A knock on the door interrupted Sarutobi's thoughts. After receiving the Hokage's permission, a messenger from the Academy entered the office to start explaining with a stutter about Naruto's improper actions and quoting what the young child said. '_The mouth on that child,' _Hiruzen thought in astonishment before narrowing his eyes. _'I don't need a second guess as to where he learned that language.' _

Kurmochi might have scared the headmaster into having him send her a messenger, but she wasn't the only one keeping personal tabs on Naruto's affairs.

'_Speaking of which,_' Hiruzen pondered. _'I bet Danzo also is keeping tabs on the boy in order to convince me to give the boy to him for training to become an emotionless tool.'_ Some people were just too easy to predict.

"Thank you for delivering this message for me," the Hokage said, "and please notify the headmaster of my thanks dealing with this matter. Tell him that I will be letting Ms. Kurmochi handle this matter regarding Naruto's choice selection of words. Please notify me, when she arrives at the Academy."

Like hell he was getting involved with a student telling his teacher to stop sucking another student's dick.

Furthermore, Hiruzen wanted to know how she would handle this situation and her method of punishment. He needed to determine if the punishment could be viewed as cruel and unusual. He would always be looking for ways to discredit her.

Naruto being completely dependent on Kurmochi's affections was bad news. If anyone knew about Orochimaru's methods like Hiruzen did, then they would understand as well. If Kurmochi ever turned evil or was murdered, then the Third hoped he was already dead because he really did not want to perform the Reaper Death Seal on his Kyubi-induced pseudo-grandson.

Secondly, Hiruzen always secretly liked being the only one that Naruto had. Of course, he would never admit this because then he would be comparing himself to Kurmochi and Orochimaru. Also, it was extremely petty, and he knew it. Nonetheless, Sarutobi purposefully kept himself distant during Naruto's earlier years out of necessity, and he did not want Naruto to grow a dependence on him.

That absolutely backfired in his face.

Naturally, the messenger returned a little less than two hours later to tell him that Kurmochi arrived at the Academy that was at most a twenty minute walk. She obviously took her sweet time to annoy the headmaster and to make Naruto squirm in his desk as his overactive imagination worried more and more about his punishment.

Hiruzen also had a distinct feeling she did it to bother him as well. _'Jokes on her,'_ Sarutobi thought with a smile. _'I have paperwork to keep me busy.'_ He had to restrain himself from visibly deflating at that thought. He couldn't let the ANBU in the room see their supreme leader defeated by a stack of paper.

Sarutobi grabbed his scrying orb and focused on Naruto's unique chakra signature that he made sure to memorize after kicking himself for not attuning himself to it before the Orphanage kicked him out. _'It is only a failure if you don't learn from your mistake,'_ the Hokage sagely told himself to make him feel a tad better about that fiasco.

Kurmochi's face remained blank throughout the headmaster's retelling of Naruto's actions earlier that day. Meanwhile, Naruto squirmed in his seat with his head looking at his lap and pushing invisible specks off of his kimono. Hiruzen couldn't help but notice her look of secret approval in her eyes at Naruto's actions.

Apparently, she wasn't a fan of the clans as well. This fact was probably rooted in the fact that very few clan members ever participated in her seductive missions. The Hokage didn't delude himself saying that her attitude didn't rub off on young Naruto.

Naruto's meek appearance before the headmaster completely shattered for the Hokage, however, when the little brat looked to side with a gleam in his eyes and a slight smirk. The manipulative little brat knew she was proud and was therefore proud in his actions. What was worst was the little charade originally fooled the Third himself.

After making a few promises that this will never happen again, Kurmochi took Naruto by his ear marching him out of the office and towards Naruto's classroom whispering a few words of praise.

All of Hiruzen's lingering doubts about the duo's sincerity came crashing down, when Naruto started back-talking the teacher while apologizing at the same time. Kurmochi's face at the same time was turning sour, but Hokage knew that what she was really thinking was most likely along the lines of: 'He needs more work'.

When she dragged Naruto out of the classroom and into the hallway, Sarutobi's suspicion was answered. "You need to learn to control that wicked tongue of yours, Naruto-kun, or it will get you in real trouble one day," Kurmochi whispered in his ears.

The Hokage felt his cheeks flush a little at that point. '_Couldn't she have chosen a better way to phrase that statement,'_ Hiruzen questioned, _'and why did she have to say it like that? He is only eight years old.'_

If Sarutobi's cheeks were pink before, they transformed into a decent red. The Madame placed Naruto's hands against the wall and used her foot to spread the blonde's legs apart slightly. She then yanked the backside of Naruto's kimono over his head revealing his teal boxers covered in green frogs.

Then, she started to whip the boy's rear with the wooden ruler that she borrowed from Saji. The Hokage really hoped that no one walked into the hallway to find out who was screaming like a little girl. He really did not want to mess with that shit and mountain of paperwork.

The Hokage cursed Kurmochi under his breath. Like hell he could use this as an example of cruel and unusual punishment because that would mean that was explicitly viewing them with his scrying orb. This would then bring up questions on to what else he could possibly be using his scrying orb for. Hiruzen could already see Kurmochi asking him what he saw with the orb, and Hiruzen really did not want to say out loud what he was watching.

All Hiruzen could do was hope this didn't permanently screw up Naruto's head and develop some weird fetishes in the future. Of course, the Hokage was worried about the boy's future sex-life. He was a good grandfather like that.

Once she was done performing her chosen method of punishment, Kurmochi pulled Naruto's kimono back down and whispered into his ear, "That will be your lesson to learn this new thing called subtlety. Look it up in that dictionary your sister's gave you."

Naruto could only nod his tear-stained head up and down. The Hokage believed he saw enough after Naruto apologized to his sensei and class and perfect his handwriting under Kurmochi's strict tutelage.

Like hell the Hokage was ever going to let her become a substitute teacher much less an actual teacher. He was drowning in paperwork as it was, and he didn't need a bunch of angry parents and clan heads breathing down his neck.

* * *

One hour later

* * *

All of Hiruzen's previous spying on his pseudo-grandson was making him a little hungrier than usual by this time in day. The Hokage ordered one his elite soldiers to go pick him up a lettuce wrap and to fix him a pot of tea, while he pulled the scrying orb out again.

Hiruzen focused on Naruto's chakra signature again. He noticed that Naruto was just starting his own lunch break with a slight limp in his step from his previous beating.

Hiruzen put a small smile on his face, when he remembered how he made friends with the Aburame, Nara and Akimichi clans despite a less than pleasant first impression. The smile quickly turned into a deep look of disapproval in response to some civilian kid's insulting words.

Sarutobi knew that this would not go well, but he truly did not understand how much of an understatement that was. The Third's face changed from disapproval to shock, as he witnessed Naruto's physical transformation.

The color of his eyes turned into a blood red, the whisker marks deepened, the ears became slightly pointier, his hands and feet turned into claws –all telltale signs of the Kyubi's presence inside of Naruto. What was worse however was Naruto's seemingly uncontrollable anger, as he brutally lashed out against the bully.

It would seem that the Fourth's seal was not as strong as previously believed. The belief behind the seal was that it would channel a small amount of the Kyubi's chakra into the container's chakra system; however, the chakra would be purified from its poisonous demonic state into one suitable for humans.

Granted as a Jinchuriki, Naruto would be more resistant to the Kyubi's chakra than anyone else currently alive. It would seem that seal was not completely filtering the hatred inherent in the Kyubi's chakra but merely diluting it. The Hokage also suspected from his previous experiences with Jinchuriki that Naruto's emotions, especially hatred, would subconsciously draw out more of the Kyubi's chakra.

When Naruto would draw more of the Kyubi's chakra than originally intended, the seal would not be able to have any effect on the red chakra's tendency to turn the container into a rampaging monster.

The seal instead prevented the Kyubi from completely dominating its container and releasing the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox through the container's loss of willpower. This was truly what made the seal a masterpiece in the Hokage's humble opinion. Tailed Beast chakra was like a crack in a dam. The more water that would leak, the weaker the dam would be, the larger the crack would grow, more water would leak and thus the cycle would continue until busting the whole dam.

In this case, instead a lake worth of water being held back by a dam, a rampaging Nine-Tailed Demon Fox would be released into the world. Thus, the seal would kick in as a failsafe at the point of no return knocking the Jinchuriki unconscious and putting the Kyubi back into its cage.

Of course, the Fourth also made a key to open the cage and disable the failsafe protocol for when the Jinchuriki believed himself strong enough to defeat the Kyubi. If Naruto lost, however, then the Kyubi would be released once more onto the world. '_Because what is life without a little risk,'_ the Third sarcastically thought reprimanding the Fourth's ideas.

And to think, he developed this plan within hours, while the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was destroying the village. It merely required the sacrifice of Konoha's greatest hero, since the First founded the village, and the Kyubi's previous Jinchuriki along with the aid of the God of Death to create the seal.

Nonetheless, the Third had to quickly get Naruto's rage under control. The Fourth's legacy might be Naruto, but the Third would be damned if he was going to have his legacy be an uncontrollable rampaging Jinchuriki in Konoha's own walls. Thus, the Hokage dispersed into a pile of leaves in a Body Flicker into the Academy's schoolyard.

The Hokage loudly cleared his throat getting all of the students and teachers' attention. Hiruzen's eyes were instead locked on to Naruto's struggling head-locked form. Fortunately the forced restraint was causing Naruto to calm down, and the blonde made eye contact with the Hokage.

Naruto's eyes widened and whispered in slight exhaustion and fear for what just hpapened, "Grandpa."

"I'll take it from here," the Hokage announced. He needed to fix this quickly and now, and he could only think of one solution that allowed Naruto to keep his humanity.

The boy's clear inability to control his emotions especially his rage in reference to his 'family' could not be allowed to continue. If it became obvious that the Jinchuriki could not control his emotions and resulted to a berserker state that would put Inuzukas to shame, then the Hokage would be hard-pressed protecting Naruto from the village's machinations. The Shinobi Council, the Hokage's advisors, Danzo specifically and to a lesser extent the Civilian Councilmen and women would all demand immediate action ranging from weaponization to imprisonment to exile to execution.

'_Like hell'_, the Hokage thought. _'He wasn't going to put the Fourth's legacy's future in the hands of the people who couldn't even see that they were at least partially responsible for Naruto's poor mental state.'_

Also, it was simply too easy of an emotional trigger. His 'mother' was literally the Madame of a brothel, and his 'sisters' were literally whores. That was just the truth. Hiruzen had no idea how Naruto could not have already come to terms with these facts. The boy has been practically living with them for two years now.

'_But how do I solve this conundrum?'_ the Third pondered. '_He couldn't have Kurmochi teach Naruto this lesson. She would probably only turn his hot anger into a cold fury, and I've seen too many Shinobi explode with pent-up emotions in his lifetime. Also, it would only further young Naruto's dependence on her, and I really want to avoid that.' _

'_The Yamanaka clan have a potential, but I don't want to place too much political weight on one clan. The whole point of seeking help was to avoid problems with the Shinobi council which held the most power next to myself. Also, their abilities deal with delving in their target's brain. The last thing I'm going to do is condone going into a Jinchuriki's mindscape, especially one with mental issues in the first place. To top everything off, the Yamanaka clan were terrible gossips, and I really don't want everyone knowing Naruto's current mental health.'_

'_I can't have Naruto have daily visits with Ibiki Morino, the commanding officer of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force. The man was a professional sadist who believed that pain was an effective form of communication. While the man had complete knowledge of the human psychology, he was best at using it to break people, not fix them. Furthermore, Naruto would lose all faith in him as the Hokage and the village as a whole after being psychologically destroyed simply because he had some well-deserved anger.'_

'_What I need is a third-party that wouldn't be influenced by any of Konoha's politicking,'_ the Hokage concluded, _'and someone that could claim to be above my influence as well.'_

A name popped into Hiruzen's head. Kagemura Tenshin. While he wouldn't technically be above the Hokage's influence, it was the best Sarutobi could think of at the moment. In his line of work, one quickly learned to take the best real option and not wait for some mystical person to arrive and solve all of the problems.

Sarutobi nodded to himself in conclusion, and then pointed at the groaning boy in the dirt, "Take the boy to the Academy clinic to begin healing his wounds. Tell the medic-nin to bring his class with him as a demonstration. Then inform the headmaster and have a messenger sent to the boy's guardians telling them that their son is receiving treatment. If they wish to come, then they may. I will also be willing to talk to them along with the headmaster. Furthermore, Ms. Kurmochi will not be told of this situation. Naruto will have the pleasure of doing that himself at a later time. I'll be escorting Naruto to the teacher's office, where we will be having a serious discussion about his actions against the other boy. Everyone else continue what you were doing."

Hiruzen grabbed Naruto by his shoulder and led him towards the teacher's office, while the two instructors carried the beaten boy to the Academy's clinic. Meanwhile, all of the other students started loudly gossiping to each other.

The Hokage had more important issues to worry about at the moment like a pseudo-grandson that was staring at his bloodstained hands that he was squeezing and releasing. Fortunately, his Jinchuriki features had completely faded as quickly as they had come.

"Calm yourself, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen voiced in his well-known grandfatherly-like tone. "We are merely going to discuss what happened. We can't be having that happen every day, now can we? We must learn from our past actions after all to better ourselves in the future."

Naruto could only nod mechanically. Once they entered the office, the Hokage set himself across the desk and motioned for Naruto to sit as well.

Breaking the silence, Hiruzen asked, "Would you like to explain to me what happened in the schoolyard with that boy?"

Naruto balled his little fists and answered with a distant voice described the whole event in good memory. _'It's a good thing he didn't try to lie to me,' _the Hokage concluded.

"And how did that make you feel?" Hiruzen almost wanted to wince at how cliché that statement was, but the Hokage needed to know the answer to that question.

"I. He. He just made me really mad. Then, I saw red and reacted. I felt so strong. Like I was on top of the world, and no one could take me down. I was in charge. Everyone had to look up to me. I stopped feeling so weak like when I was at the Orphanage. I could stand up for myself. I wasn't weak. I was strong. And I liked it. I didn't want it to end."

Hiruzen nodded, "That would be the filling of adrenaline which is a chemical that your body makes and releases throughout your body. It seems to me as if you were practically running on it." That and the Kyubi's chakra, but he wasn't going to be discussing that with him at such a tender age.

"While there is nothing wrong with being strong, the problem arises with how you use your strength. In your case, you overstepped the lines the moment you started hitting the boy, when he stopped being able to defend himself," Sarutobi lectured.

"I don't understand," Naruto blurted.

"Oh," the Hokage replied raising an eyebrow. "What do you not understand?"

"When the children and adults at the Orphanage would bully and beat me just because they could, no one would stand up in my defense. In fact, everyone would cheer them on and be rewarded. Yet, when I do the same thing to defend me and my family's honor, I'm in an office speaking to the supreme leader of the village. Also, why does he get medical treatment? I never got medical treatment! I got spat on! That's what I got!" Naruto said in a melancholy tone that quickly escalated to heated shouting.

Hiruzen gave a downcast expression, "What they did was wrong? I'm sorry, but-"

"Sorry? You're sorry! What the hell is that going to do for me? You're sorry! Where the hell was your sorry, when I needed it?" Naruto demanded.

"We can't change the past. All we can do is accept it and move on," the Hokage instructed.

"Accept it! You want me to forget what happened to me? You want me to forgive?" Naruto shouted in disbelief.

"I never said anything about forgiving them or forgetting about what happened. You must learn to come to terms with it," Sarutobi continued.

"Oh, yeah. I understand perfectly now. It's okay for them to beat me, but I can't do the same in my defense. I understand it crystal clear now. Thanks for clearing that up now that I know my role as the village's whipping boy," the blonde venomously retorted.

'_Where the hell did he make that connection?'_ the Hokage thought to himself mystified. '_It matters not. What I am doing is clearly not working.'_

"I have no idea where you got that idea from. I merely pointed out that you crossed a line, not that defending yourself was wrong," Hiruzen restated. "However, there will be consequences for your actions."

Naruto crossed his arms and guffawed, "At the Orphanage-"

The Third raised his hand, "We are no longer at the Orphanage Naruto. We are the Academy, and the sooner you realize that the better. Things are different now. You know that more than I do. What I cannot have is you blowing up and beating everyone to a bloody pulp that insults you or your family. You don't see me starting a war with everyone that insults me or Konoha."

Naruto continued to cross his arms but puffed his cheeks out in an immature pout and remained silent.

Seeing that as an opportunity to continue, "Naruto, the past can't hurt you anymore, not unless you let it." Naruto's face shun, as if he just achieved nirvana. If the Hokage were being perfectly honest with himself, then he would admit he was more than a little worried by the way the boy acted like all of his problems were just solved.

Deciding now would be a good time to quit potentially making this situation worse, the Hokage diverted the conversation, "I understand that your life has not been easy by any means, but you must understand that other people can help you make it better. Just take me, or your 'Mama' or your sisters."

Naruto nodded in agreement. The Third continued, "There is no shame in admitting a weakness. In fact, not doing so is a weakness. As a Shinobi, failing to acknowledge a weakness is tantamount to failure and potentially the death of yourself or your comrades. You are probably wondering why I am telling you this. I'm going to admit that I am not good with these kinds of conversations. All I can tell you are lessons that I myself have learned."

"Furthermore, I cannot always be there for you. I'm a busy man with a lot on my shoulders, and I will admit that I am no longer in my prime. At the same time, I cannot let you continue bottling up your emotions for you to explode like you did in the schoolyard a few moments ago."

"Instead, you will be having daily visits with a good friend of mine named Kagemura Tenshin at the Fire Temple here in Konoha. In fact, I'll be walking you to the temple after class today."

Naruto began to protest before the Hokage lifted his hand again demanding silence, "This is not up for discussion. I assure you that this is best for you whether or not you believe it right now. I myself have visited him multiple times for assistance, and he has always proven himself beneficial."

"Here is what we are going to do now. You are going to the bathroom and go wash your hands and face, while I wait outside of the bathroom. Then, we will walk back into the schoolyard. I will talk to your sensei that we have come a mutually-agreed upon commitment that you will be going to the Fire Temple directly after class everyday from now on.

"You will be silent and go eat your lunch. You will not cause any more trouble today no matter what anyone says or does. You are both stronger and better than them. You must rise above them. Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience."

"After the lunch break is over, you will go back to class without causing any drama and pay attention to the lesson. You and the other boy's actions today do not merit permanently disrupting your studies. Once class is dismissed, you will walk outside without drama. You will then wait for me if I am not already outside. You will hold my hand, and then we will walk to the Fire Temple."

'_Unlike you, Naruto,'_ the Hokage despaired to himself, _'I have to talk to the child's parents that you just wrecked and then have nice long and tedious conversation with the village's 'concerned citizens'.'_

"Under no circumstances are you allowed to antagonize anyone or retort back. I don't care if what you do is in self-defense, or if it makes you feel weak. You will prove to me that you are strong enough to handle this and rise above everyone's petty hatred or prove that everyone was right about you, and that I have been wasting my whole time with you."

"That is what will happen. It truly breaks my heart that I have to say this, but a Shinobi must learn to set aside their compassion and steel themselves for what needs to be done. This may seem harsh, but life is too."

"Now stand with me in our most peculiar light. This world will try to tear you down. You must stay strong and gather your allies and friends around you and ignore the naysayers. Who are they after all before Naruto Uzumaki?"

The Hokage walked Naruto to the bathroom and said, "I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving."

After Naruto finished cleaning his hands and face in the bathroom, the both of them walked down the hallway towards the schoolyard, "Be not afraid of greatness Naruto. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."

The Hokage then grabbed both of the blonde's shoulders and said in complete seriousness, "I firmly believe with every ounce of my aging bones that you will one day achieve this greatness, and everyone will see what I see in you. You will face more obstacles in your life than I could possibly imagine, but I believe in you. I believe that you will overcome all of them just like you have always done. And one day you will stand before all the people who doubted that such a day would ever happen and you will ask them, 'What have you to say now?' "

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konoha, the Professor and God of Shinobi, walked hand in hand with Naruto Uzumaki, the Living Vessel of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the Village Pariah and Unsung Hero, into the daylight of the schoolyard heads held high.

* * *

AN: When I was first writing this story, I had the intention of writing it starting at least around the graduation of the Academy. I would then progress my story, and have flashbacks to explain the past. I'm afraid that will no longer be happening as I now have the full intention of detailing the Academy years.

Whenever I watch a movie, read a story, etc, I find myself always more interested in the stories they didn't tell like more information about Hanzo and Pain's fight/the Akatsuki formation (now in a video game). For another example, I really want a detailed story about Robert's Rebellion/The Battle at the Trident or the conquest of Westeros in A Song for Fire and Ice (Game of Thrones).

Do not worry though. The story will not be progressing in a day-by-day fashion. It just happens that Naruto's first days at the Academy are stressful and require me to write about them.

If anyone has any recommendations or suggestions about: my plot, what you want to see, what you think would be a good idea (large or small; i.e. a fight scene or the color of Naruto's boxers), critiques of my writing style, or observations that you like and wish for me to continue, then I would greatly appreciate them.

After all, I can only improve if you tell me what I am doing wrong or right.

Thank you all again for reading my story. Until the next chapter.


	5. Unconventional Therapy

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not.

AN: My first fanfiction ever written. First time publishing to this site. Thank you for your patience. All reviews welcomed.

* * *

**Adapt or Die**

_By: Adoredra Fal'Naelra_

**Chapter 5 – Unconventional Therapy**

* * *

Kagemura Tenshin was calmly finishing his mid-day snack and tea brought in by one of the neophytes in the middle of his pagoda. The bald and tan-skinned monk moved his permanently squinted eyes to the letter lying on top of a missive with the Hokage's seal by his shakujo.

Despite its somewhat innocent appearance, his shakujo was a formidable weapon in his experienced hands. It could be used to block and parry his opponent's attacks and weapons, while the metal rings at the tip could be slammed into an opponent's face to momentarily blind him. At the very tip of the metal finial was a sharp point which could be used to attack weak points of the body, and at the bottom end of the shakujo was a metal butt which can be used to thrust and hit an opponent.

Kagemura had defeated many an assassin during his long servitude protecting the Daimyo with his trusty shakujo as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. He still wore the sash around his waist to this day with the kanji for 'Fire'. Despite serving during three Shinobi World Wars, the aging monk would never be more thankful for leaving before the coup d'état attempt by six of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

Apparently, the revolutionaries wanted to remove Konoha's autonomous authority within the Land of Fire and give all the power to the Daimyo.

He had good friends on both sides of the split although he didn't believe in giving any one person too much power. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Even the Daimyo was against the plan, thereby making the six radicals decide that they needed to place a puppet Daimyo. Then, it became obvious the real intentions of the six power-hungry Guardians. Thankfully, the Hokage's son, Asuma Sarutobi, and the other Guardians were able to defeat them before their ideals could spread or come to fruition.

After serving as a member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja for the Daimyo of the Land of Fire for over forty years, Tenshin decided to found a temple of his own in Konoha. His plans met stiff resistance and protests from Konoha's powers-at-be because of the perceived Daimyo influence that Tenshin would bring into Konoha.

Nonetheless, Kagemura persevered. If there was any place in the borders of the Land of Fire that needed guidance, then it would be the Hidden Village in the Leaves. Fortunately, the Hokage needed to foster better relations with the Daimyo to receive more money, and Hiruzen needed to help fix the bad blood between father and son.

Therefore, the Hokage allowed Kagemura to found his temple and accomplish his goal. Kagemura, also, found himself in the Hokage's debt for his assistance until this day.

'_Some favor he called in, '_Kagemura scoffed to himself, _'and just when life was getting easy.'_ The Temple was finally setting down and becoming a fixture in the bustling city of Konoha.

Tenshin received a letter from the Hokage himself indicating that Hiruzen needed a favor from the old monk in regards to the welfare of one Naruto Uzumaki.

The Naruto Uzumaki. The Living Container of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon and Village Pariah.

Unlike the majority of Konoha, Kagemura believed in the Fourth's dying wish and acknowledged the child for what he truly was. A hero.

Sarutobi was rather clear with his intentions of the both of them meeting. Kagemura would not allow Naruto to become a monk. The retired Guardian could practically hear the desperation in the Hokage's writing.

The Hokage bluntly said that the Konoha was at its weakest since its founding despite seeming otherwise and required every Shinobi it could get. The village simply could not afford to refuse the services of the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi despite the villager's best attempts otherwise.

The Third had long since passed his prime, and there was no sign of a clear successor. What was even worst was that no one was talking about it. It seemed everyone took it for granted that Hiruzen would lead them breaking out of the natural cycle of birth and death.

Furthermore, Hiruzen felt guilty for his hands-off approach to Naruto's upbringing at the Orphanage and subsequent adoption at an ex-ninja ran brothel.

Nonetheless, as the Hokage, Sarutobi learned how to pick up the pieces and start again.

Apparently, the young Naruto was showing signs of early instability caused by his treatment at the hands of the villagers. A self-fulfilling prophecy indeed. Thus, the Hokage needed a trusted acquaintance to teach the Jinchuriki how to control his emotions.

Hiruzen was nice enough to list off all known sore points for the boy. Cute. He was the personal therapist to an eight-year old with issues that could potentially release the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox on the village that caused the issues in the first place. People are stupid.

"Sorry for interrupting Tenshin-sama," one of the neophytes announced while standing under the archway. "The Hokage wishes to see you, and he has the De-umm the child with him."

'_God, do I have my work cut out for me or what,'_ the head monk groaned to himself. _'The monks-in-training can't even pretend to not outright hate the child.'_

"Thank you," Kagemura replied. "Please tell the Hokage to bring the boy with him here. Also, notify the temple that we will be having a late night lesson."

Tenshin stood up listening to the music of his bones popping in protest.

Eventually, the soft pattering of footsteps met up to the main room in the pagoda. Hiruzen in his Hokage apparel walked through the archway holding the blue kimono-clad Naruto's hand behind their escort.

The neophyte bowed lowly, "Here is Hokage-sama, Tenshin-sama, along with Naruto Uzumaki."

Kagemura waved the escort away, "That will be enough. Thank you."

The old monk watched Naruto glare death at the neophyte, as he exited the room. Apparently, their first impressions did not go swimmingly. _'Of course they didn't, silly Kagemura,'_ he thought sarcastically to himself. _'How dare you be so optimistic?'_

"Naruto-kun, this is an old acquaintance of mine," the Hokage began, "that I told you about earlier today. He is going to help you with any problems or questions you might have. Remember everything that I told you earlier today. We can't have what happened repeat itself. Now, I'm afraid I have to leave. After all, if I don't get back to my paperwork, then the village might fall apart in my absence. Literally."

"Yes, grandpa," the blonde said craning his head up towards Sarutobi. "I understand. Thank you."

"My doors are always open for you, my boy," Hiruzen finished and patting the diminutive blonde on his head.

Naruto nodded his head in understanding and watched the Hokage walk out of the pagoda. The child slowly turned his head around staring the monk in the eyes. Eventually, the blue eyes let off and trailed across the old man's body seemingly analyzing every facet.

"Yo," the blonde announced in one the most apathetic tones the monk has heard from someone the boy's age.

"That's not very exciting for someone your age," the monk replied.

"I'm not like the other children," Naruto replied in the same tone. "That would have to be one of the first lessons I have ever learned in life. Also, life's lessons have… dulled my initial reactions."

"Everyone is unique in their own ways," the monk commented. "Some more than others, but you get the gist."

"What if you just want to be like everyone else?" Naruto rebutted.

"Then, I would pity a fool like you. Who wants to be normal in a world like this?" Kagemura asked.

"Someone who is looking from the outside in," the boy answered.

"Well, I guess one of my first lessons will have to concern the ability to make your own world. Plus, who wants to be locked inside all the time, when the outside has freedom?"

"Because the inside has privileges and comforts the outside does not offer."

"You could make your own. Nothing is better than the rewards of your own hard work and sweat. For instance, I founded this temple myself."

"Congratulations," Naruto responded dryly.

"Thanks," the monk offered with a smile. "Now enough about how awesome I am. I hear someone has had a busy day. Mind sharing to an old lonely man like me."

"You can't even begin to comprehend what it means to be alone," Naruto sharply replied showing emotion for the first time, since they were left alone.

'_Good, now we are going somewhere,'_ Kagemura thought to himself.

"It wasn't my intention to offend," the monk lied. "Now about that story?"

Naruto sighed out loud, "I suppose I should have expected that. Well, there I was –." Naruto continued his story regarding everything that happened from when he walked outside into the playground to his conversation with his grandfather.

Kagemura nodded to himself. His story complied with the Hokage's rendition although without any mentions of physical transformations or blood.

Before the monk could ask his follow-up question, Naruto exposed his neck and said, "Well, I told you my sins. Shouldn't you be sharpening your knives?"

Tenshin waved his hand to the side, "No need to be so bleak, young Naruto."

"Life has told me otherwise," the blond smarted off.

"How about we try this new thing where you answer my questions and stop interrupting me like a good little boy?" Kagemura asked in a faked jovial tone. This conversation was getting away from him quickly and needed to be redirected.

Kagemura was glad for his permanently squinted eyes, when he noticed Naruto physically wince at the last three words. Maybe he would find about that later although he already had a good guess.

"Looking back on your actions, would you change anything?" the monk questioned to erase the glazed look in the blonde's eyes.

"You can't change the past like grandpa said, but if I could, I wouldn't. I honestly don't regret anything that I did. What bothers me is everyone else's reactions. If the piece of shit couldn't back up his words, then he shouldn't have said them. Simple as that."

Tenshin bonked Naruto over his head with his Shakujo, "I don't let people three times your age use that language. I sure as hell won't let you."

Naruto's expression shifted from pissed to confused, "What the hell? You just –"

The monk hit Naruto over the head again, "Tough shit. Life isn't fair. I'm not fair."

"It's shit like that that I hate! The rules don't apply to everyone!" Naruto shouted.

After bonking the petulant brat over the head, Kagemura smirked, "Tell me about it."

Naruto's blue eyes glimmered in joy, as he was about to launch into a tirade until noticing the monk's bland face, "You don't care."

"Good. You already understand sarcasm. At least, you have something going for you," the monk stated with the clear purpose of inciting the youth.

It almost worked as Naruto's face relieved itself from its fury, "Your purposefully trying to piss me off."

"I thought that was obvious. Isn't that what you are here for after all?" the monk pointed out.

"Oh, well, yes, I guess so," the child finished off lamely.

"Now, if you are quite done," Tenshin asked rhetorically, "then let me continue asking you questions. Like we agreed upon earlier. Apparently, your word can't be trusted."

Naruto quickly blew up in his face in an amazing short amount of time. Arms and hands being waved everywhere along with accusations against him, other children, their parents, teachers, respectable members of societies, clans, Konoha, the Land of Fire and really the world and life in general. Really, it was quite impressive the list of things that chipped the boy's shoulder.

Eventually, the boy had to stop and take a breath. Kagemura even saw some actual strands of sweat rolling down the blonde's tomato-red neck.

Just as soon as it started, the color faded, "You said that to piss me off."

Kagemura could only smile, "A quick learner we have here at the temple today."

"I hate you," Naruto deadpanned.

"I don't remember asking you, or actually giving a fuck in general," Kagemura deadpanned.

Naruto merely squinted his eyes making his face look like that of one as a fox.

"Now, if you would be so kind as to sit down to sit with an old man like me," the monk motioned to the mats on the floor, "then you can tell me what we were talking about before this."

Naruto grumbled while kneeling on the mat like the monk in front of him, "Something about my actions or what not."

"Or what not?" Kagemura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"And stuff," Naruto answered with a smirk.

"And stuff?" the monk asked.

"You know, stuff" the blonde replied with the same look on his face.

"Stuff?" Kagemura couldn't help himself.

"I want to punch you in your face," Naruto deadpanned getting tired of the games.

"Who gives a shit what you want?" the monk really couldn't help himself. It was too easy.

"No one," Naruto grew a downcast expression.

"Tell me how unfair that is," Kagemura said. It was his turn to smirk.

"Everyone else has someone that cares about what they want," the boy continued depressingly.

"Now, I heard that you had a mother and a pack of sisters through the grapevine. Are you telling me that the grapevine was wrong?" the retired Guardian questioned rhetorically.

"Ummm, well, I was talking about before that," the blonde stuttered out nervously while looking around and wringing his hands.

"What would your mother do, if she heard you say that?" the monk asked with an innocent expression placing the fear of God herself into Naruto's soul.

"She would show me just how much she loved me with a bamboo cane," Naruto said as he hands started to go towards his rear defensively.

"Could she come by the temple and give me some lessons?" the monk blurted perversely

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Naruto said snapping out of his thoughts of impending doom only to receive a knock on the noggin.

"That didn't sound like a yes or a no to me. My hearing must be going out in my old age," Tenshin said while sticking his pinky finger into his ear.

"No she couldn't. She's a busy woman. Sorry, businesswoman," Naruto amended.

"Are you sure? What if I went to her business instead?" the monk asked.

"Why don't we both go there right now and call it a field trip and find out together?" Naruto answered with a question.

"Because I'm a monk. Can't have people thinking I'm a human," the old monk defended.

"Your old and disgusting. What is there to think about?" Naruto pointed out.

"You need to learn what a rhetorical question is," Kagemura observed.

"I know what a rhetorical question is. I just don't give a shi-. I mean, I can't just seem to find it within myself to care," Naruto modified.

"Now was that so hard?" Kagemura asked.

"Not really," Naruto replied honestly.

"It felt better too didn't it," the bald monk egged on.

"It did," the blonde agreed with a small smile on his face while nodding his head in agreement.

"Excellent. We are learning so quickly. They do say teaching is its own reward. Now, tell me what we were talking about?" the monk said trying to get the conversation back on track

Naruto placed a hand on his chin until smirking and replied, "Stuff"

"You really want to go down that road again?" Kagemura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's fun finding a road that is not less traveled for once," Naruto observed.

"That's cute. It would seem to me that the Hokage has told you quite a few things today. Thoughts?" Kagemura asked growing tired of the game. He had minions to beat or teach. It was really just a matter of opinion. A perception, really.

"If I'm being honest –," the diminutive child began.

"Oh, good, lets be honest," Tenshin interrupted. Turns out he had more time than he thought he did.

The blonde started taking deep breaths in a clear attempt to control himself. Cute.

"That's good, you know how to breathe, so you have that working out for you as well," Kagemura noted.

"I still want to punch you in the face," Naruto remembered.

"You can't solve all of your problems with violence. Plus, you wouldn't hit an old man would you?" the old monk advised.

Kagemura heard a cricket chirp outside.

"Nothing to say," Tenshin wondered.

"I thought you just taught me about rhetorical questions," Naruto pointed out.

"You're an odd one aren't you?" the retired Guardian mused to himself.

"Didn't you say that was a good thing?" the blonde reminded.

"Yes, I did. See how I answered that question with an actual yes or no. You should try it some day. You know, just to try something different, if you are bored. Wouldn't want to inconvenience you. You know how I care about you like that," the monk advised.

"Yes. I'll think about it, sensei," the child smarted.

"Very good, my boy. Do you want a cookie? And, I guess I would be your sensei. Thoughts on that?" Kagemura asked

"You aren't the worst one I have ever had," Naruto shrugged.

"You set the bar high don't you?" he asked rhetorically.

"Wouldn't want to get my hopes up, you know? Life and stuff," Naruto listed.

"And stuff," the monk noted with a raised eyebrow.

"And stuff," the blonde deadpanned.

"Want to remind me the first thing I told you about talking?" the monk wondered.

"No, but I will anyway. I should only answer your questions and quit interrupting you," Naruto replied honestly.

"And what apart of that doesn't make sense to you?" Kagemura asked.

"It all makes sense to me. I've been answering all of your questions," Naruto answered.

"Really?" the monk mused. This was getting interesting.

"Yes," the blonde smarted.

"Explain," Tenshin stated.

"It's not about what you think you said as a question, but what I perceive to be a question," Naruto observed. The boy catches on quick. He naturally understood the meaning of 'looking underneath the underneath'.

"Excellent. You are a smart one, aren't you? You will find life isn't about the truth but about perception. If I may be so bold to ask, how did you find that out so quick?" Kagemura asked.

"Mama taught me that it isn't about what something is worth, but what it is perceived to be worth. Because she is a businesswoman and stuff," Naruto answered. Good ol' Mama.

"And stuff," the monk stated wryly.

"And stuff you will never see," Naruto egged.

"And you have?" Kagemura asked in curiously.

"We used to bathe together. I had a fear of bathing from my time at the Orphanage. You know, drowning attempts and stuff," the blonde reminded.

"You win some, you lose some. Let's talk about your wrinkly old grandpa instead though. Can't have you thinking perverted thoughts in a temple after all," Kagemura said rerouting the discussion. He wanted to hear Naruto's life story later on from the beginning. The monk knew that hearing little sound bites of Naruto's life would finally drive the monk insane. He went through too much shit to lose his sanity now.

"As I was saying-," the blonde began.

"As you said," Kagemura noted.

"I'm going to ignore that because it wasn't a question," Naruto announced dismissively.

"Carry on my wayward son," the monk said sagely.

Kagemura noticed the odd look that he received. So, the boy likes to listen to music. Naruto continued nonetheless, "I don't really know what to do with everything that grandpa told me."

"What are you going to do about that then?" Tenshin asked.

"Don't know, so I'm just going to do what I always do, until I get my thoughts together," the blonde summarized. _'Couldn't he have just said that in the beginning?'_ the monk pondered to himself.

"Sounds good to me. You should never forget yourself," the old monk advised.

"Mama tells me to never forget my roots and past," Naruto quoted.

"True. If you wear a mask for so long, then you forget you were beneath it. You don't want to look in the mirror one day and not know who or what you are looking at," Kagemura enlightened. "Do you know why you are here?"

"To learn how to control my emotions because they don't control me," the boy quoted once more. '_The child is like a sponge for other's sayings,'_ Kagemura mused. _'It's going to be really weird to hear him quoting me verbatim one day.' _

"That will only be one of your many lessons, my boy, but you can see how your past plays a part in your emotions? Now, before I ask this question, think long and hard before you answer. What do you want at the most fundamental level? Think big here," the monk said seriously.

"I. I. I want to be happy, I suppose," the child stuttered without confidence.

"You suppose?" Kagemura egged.

"I want to be happy," Naruto said straightening his back and squaring his shoulders. _'So Mama has taught him proper stances,'_ the monk observed.

"Aha, my boy. Now we are at the root of our problems. You see, happiness is the most insidious prison of all. If you want to be happy, then be ignorant," the monk answered whimsically while shaking a finger out condescendingly.

"I hate ignorance. Mama says it's the reason why my life is shi-. Why everyone hates me," Naruto snarled.

"Everyone?" Tenshin asked.

"9 out of 10," the blonde estimated.

"Better than 10 out of 10, no?" the monk asked rhetorically.

"Yes," Naruto stated tersely.

"Good. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," the old monk quoted.

"As if you could possible understand hardships here in your temple surrounded by servants. What would you know of hunger, thirst, cold, loneliness-" the child said starting to rant. _'Where the hell does this kid make these logical leaps from,'_ Kagemura thought. _'Obviously, someone is holding his thoughts back. Cheeky brat. The walls are coming down and sooner rather than later.'_

"Thus, we are back to our original problem – ignorance and understanding. You believe that only those who have the same experiences can share understanding. Yet, everyone is different. Two people, for instance, could experience the exact same event, yet react completely different. Thus, according to you, understanding between two individuals much less a village will never be achieved," Kagemura summarized.

"I could care less if others understand me or me them. I have enough of my own problems to deal with," Naruto scoffed.

"While I don't believe a single word you first said, that is the reason why you are here. To handle your problems. Yet, you ignore the problems of others. What you are is a hypocrite stuck in your own self-deluded cycle of ignorance like the villagers that hate you," Tenshin revealed.

"How dare you! How dare you compare them to me! I am nothing like them you hear me? Nothing! And how would you know who I am, or what I have experienced from your temple on the hill?" Naruto exploded.

"Please, everyone knows who you are," Kagemura waved off.

"But no one sees me for me. I'm only some plague on the village that would be better off gone- dead or alive," the child said while grinding his teeth.

"All about perceptions, no? Yet, what I see is the different side to the same coin. They hate you; you hate them. And you stand here screaming in my face that you different. That you are better. Don't make me laugh," the retired Guardian snorted.

"All I have known my whole life is hatred, anger and loneliness before Mama. And you call yourself a religious man. Fuck you! Fuck your God! Fuck your temple! If you want to see a real God, a real angel on this shitty-ass world, then I can show you her myself! If you want to find the door to heaven, I'll show you it, too, and it's a door with a red lantern swinging in the rain," Naruto shouted in his pre-pubescent voice.

"Poetic. Now, tell me what you want to do?" the monk asked once more.

"I'm going to beat the shit out of you and shove that stick you your ass, you wrinkly old shit!" Naruto yelled continuing to raise his volume.

Tenshin faked a look of disgust holding his hand to his face, "Oh my, such language, for someone so young. Well then, show me. Make me understand how strong you are Naruto Uzumaki, or are you just a little liar whose word holds no meaning."

* * *

An hour later.

* * *

Kagemura Tenshin would have to admit the little spitfire gave him a good workout. He even had a nice little sheen of sweat covering his forehead, and a new dent on his veteran shakujo. Damn that boy's head was thick.

Naruto Uzumaki was profusely panting on his hands and knees trying to force some oxygen into his lungs. The monk was a total sadist. Mama always told him not to judge a book by its cover.

The monk noticed that the boy was also visibly shaking and trembling.

"You like me like this don't you," the boy in question announced. "Weak and on my knees like everyone else. Defenseless and pathetic. A victim to their cruelties. Well, guess what? I refuse! I'm different than I was back then. I won't take it laying down!"

'_The amount of psychological instability in that statement aside,'_ Kagemura analyzed. _'The boy could stand to pick up a few more phrases that aren't so… double entendre in nature.'_

Naruto received what must have been his third wind by now and launched himself at the monk with his fist pulled back. Tenshin simply moved to the aside allowing to Naruto to fly past him. The monk brought his staff down onto the small of the diminutive boy's back.

'_He is close to breaking. Just a little more,'_ the monk told himself. He needed to see what was behind all of Naruto's walls and so did Naruto as well.

"So," Kagemura stated apathetically. "This is the might and strength of Naruto Uzumaki. Everything you have? Your limit?"

The blonde cried out furiously attempting to standing up and face the monk only to fall to one of his knees. As strong as the boy's willpower was, he still couldn't force his body beyond its limit's limits.

The monk looked the boy over dismissively before turning his back and heading towards the door mumbling, "What a waste of time."

"No! No! No! Turn around! Pay attention to me! Why do you look away from me? I'm here! I'm real! Stop ignoring me!" Naruto shouted.

Tenshin looked over his shoulder and asked, "Why should I?"

Naruto's eyes became progressively more and more mentally unstable, "I'm a good boy. I promise. I'm not a Demon. I never hurt anyone. I promise. I don't want to go into the closet. It's dark. No, I'm not a Demon or a Monster. I promise. I'm a good boy."

The blonde crumpled into himself losing all control and broke down into a heaving crying mess. After a few moments, he flung his head side to side with his tears flinging off of his whiskered cheeks, "No! No! I promised myself I wouldn't cry anymore. I'm going to be strong. Make Mama proud of me. I hate. I hate. I hate you all! You hear me! HATE! DIE!"

The boy began to gain the Kyubi's demonic features bringing his clawed hands to his face and staring at them, "You should all die! And then you will feel my pain! Yes! Die! Kill! Rip! Rend! Tear!"

Kagemura immediately launched forward to get the boy under control. He broke down the walls to see what was behind him, but he also released the monster that was hiding behind Naruto's façade.

The retired Guardian swatted Naruto's claw-like hands from his face and used the metal butt of the shakujo to tap Naruto in the forehead. The metal butt forced Naruto from his low-crouch to kneeling on the mat. Naruto lifted his head along with increasingly spiky and feral blonde hair to look at the monk with eyes that were raging a war between blue and red.

"Who are you?" Naruto blinked in confusion slowly regaining his humanity and only slightly parted his mouth to let up on the pressure his fangs were applying to his bottom lip. "You were a good boy beforehand. Who are you know?"

"A Monster. A Demon," Naruto whispered in a growl to himself with tears in his eyes looking at the clawed-hands that were dangling at his side like puppet arms.

"And where is Naruto Uzumaki? I wanted to fight him. Not some wanna-be good boy or a demon. I wanted Naruto Uzumaki. Where is he?" the monk questioned in a stern voice.

With no emotion is his voice, the blonde answered, "I. I don't know."

"Exactly. You don't even know who you are. How could you possibly work towards understanding if you are hiding from yourself? Are you done hiding from yourself? You were never fighting me. You were fighting yourself in your heart," lectured the monk using his shakujo's metal butt to lightly tap Naruto's heart. "You were fighting yourself in here like you have been doing every day of your life. Your aggression against me was simply a physical manifestation of your war inside your heart."

"Now that we have broken through your own walls preventing you from seeing the truth hidden in your heart, we can begin to resolve the conflict inside it to answer the most fundamental question: 'Who is Naruto Uzumaki'?"

"Let's start from the beginning," Kagemura said kneeling down on his own mat and offered the blond who was staring at him with wide eyes and a slack-jawed expression a smile. "Sing me the song of your people."

Naruto blinked a few times and gaped his mouth like a fish, "What?"

The monk chuckled, "One day you will understand the importance of lightening up and stop being so serious all the time, but I suppose there are times when a serious outlook is necessary."

"What the fuck? Literally, what the fuck?" the blonde announced in complete seriousness. "How can you act like that? After everything that literally just happened, you are telling me to 'lighten up' because I'm 'serious all the time'. Where the hell have you been? And what the hell does 'sing me the song of your people' mean? Is that supposed to be a jab against my family?"

Kagemura sighed out loud mostly to himself, "You have so much to learn."

Naruto decided to unload his rather impressive repertoire of cuss words. _'Haven't heard that one in a while,'_ Tenshin mused to himself after a particularly flavorful one.

The old monk then used his staff to knock the gobsmacked boy over the head four times, "Language. To answer what I believe was a question underneath all of that foul language, being serious all the time puts unnecessary pressure on you. Wouldn't you say that you have enough pressure on you from the outside world?"

Naruto nodded while rubbing the side of his head.

"Good. So why add more pressure on yourself? If anything, the pressure you put on yourself is the only thing you control. So like your emotions, why not control that? The goal of our meetings is for you to ultimately be in control of yourself. And we have a lot of work to do, so I hope you can keep up."

"Also, you need to stop acting like everything everyone says is meant as an insult. Whether or not it is or isn't is meaningless with you. You have the most fascinating ability to construe, correctly or not, anything anyone says as an insult. In fact, I bet if I were to complement you on your kimono, you would be insulted and try to start a fight."

"What I mean is that I want to here your life story, oh great one of eight-years. And start from the beginning and don't leave anything out. The only way we can accomplish anything is if you are completely honest to yourself and me."

Naruto nodded his head and started, "And there I was –"

* * *

An hour later.

* * *

"And then I walked outside into the schoolyard today. You know the rest from there," Naruto said finally finishing his life's story from his years of abuse and abandonment at the Orphanage to his time with Ms. Kurmochi to his first days at the Academy.

"Temporarily ignoring the fact that you believe the owner of a brothel is a God on earth and worship everything she says," the monk said for the first time since Naruto started talking and ignoring the blonde's offended visage. The monk had to use his years of experience to stop from laughing at half of the shit that Naruto's 'Mama' said and did to him. Having Naruto call the Hokage 'Grandfather' in order to make the man feel guilty was a stroke of pure genius. And evil. Don't forget the pure evil.

"Do you understand the useless and frivolity of getting revenge on everyone who has wronged you?" Kagemura asked suddenly.

Naruto got over being offended and nodded slowly, "Grandpa says that I should just ignore them like the majority do to me. Fight fire with fire."

"That is one way, but you don't understand why you should ignore them. You would be assigning yourself with the mission of removing the people of their stupidity. Stupidity and people are one and the same. Mob rules, you see. Also, knowing your previous violent reaction to all of your problems, you would also be confirming their beliefs that you are nothing more than a Demon and a Monster. A self-fulfilling prophecy if you will."

Naruto looked to the side and down in shame at the monk's statement.

"Also, what were your plans to those who did nothing or those who simply watched? The bystanders, what of them?" the monk continued.

"I hate them the most," Naruto announced vehemently. "How could they do nothing? They are the weak ones. They might as well be deaf, dumb and blind."

"Such is the face of ignorance. They are ignorant to the world around them. Nonetheless, you can't expect everyone to come to your aid. This world does not work that way as much as I would like to see it so," Kagemura lectured.

The blonde's face lightened up in joy, "You understand! That's why I must be strong. To survive and to thrive in this barren world. To not have to depend on another's charity. To stand on my own two feet."

"While there is nothing wrong with being strong, what will you do with your strength once you achieve it? Once you are able to defend yourself from your enemies, what then? What will you use of your strength then? Help the needy?" Tenshin asked.

"Bah," Naruto said dismissively with a wave of his hand. "What would they know of true need?"

"You sound as if your problems are greater than that of others," the monk pointed out.

Naruto snorted, "Of course they are."

"So, if you were to see someone in need, what would you do?" Kagemura questioned.

"Nothing," Naruto retorted as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They can grow strong on their own just like I did. If I can overcome my problems, then they can do the same to their own."

"Your strength hasn't stemmed from the aid of others?" Tenshin asked.

"Umm, well," Naruto stumbled over his words. "I mean, there is Mama, my sisters and grandpa."

Kagemura raised an eyebrow.

"And you," Naruto included as a last thought while rolling his eyes.

"I can feel the love from here," the old monk commented wryly before asking. "What if they don't have anyone to help them? What would have happened if no one was there to help you?"

Naruto's blue eyes widened, and his face paled in understanding, "They. I. I mean they. They. I would have died."

'_And he said I wasn't serious enough,'_ the monk thought inappropriately.

"Unloved and forgotten. Yet, you could have helped him or her, but you were too busy worrying about your own problems. Is this how you to repay the kindness given to you by others? By not helping those who are in need like you. They might not have the same circumstances as you do, but no one is the same in this world," Kagemura listed off.

"I. I don't know. I mean. I guess I should help them," Naruto rambled. "This is all so confusing."

Kagemura looked over at Naruto's recently crossed arms and clapped his hands.

"Then, it is my job to educate the young and naïve. Now, before I enlighten you to how miserable this world is in my famous Cycle of Ignorance lecture, show me these tea ceremony skills that your sisters taught you. Who knows I might be learning something new today?"

Naruto lazily shrugged his shoulders, "Sure. Why not?"

" 'Why not' indeed," Kagemura announced as he called in a neophyte to bring in a fresh kettle of tea and two cups.

* * *

Two hours later.

* * *

"Thus, you can see the cycle of ignorance that pervades the very fabric of society," Kagemura finished with an inappropriate smile.

"I hate you," Naruto deadpanned.

The old monk lifted a hand in a placating fashion that made Naruto's left eye twitch, "I didn't put you in a prison. I merely showed you the bars. You see, most of us can, as we choose, make of the world either a palace or a prison."

Naruto's eye stopped twitching at the monk's last statement, but he continued to glare death at his elder.

The retired Guardian sighed contentedly, "Such is the pain of gaining knowledge through the removal of ignorance. How does it feel not being blind?"

"I still hate you," Naruto said giving no ground.

"As I said in the beginning, there is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance. And knowledge, like air, is vital to truly live. Like air, no one should be denied knowledge. Thus, I took the heavy burden of being a sensei on my shoulders in order to inform you of the world we truly live in," Kagemura said while rolling his shoulders in an exaggerated fashion.

"I hate you. Forever and ever," Naruto continued making a mockery of his 'I love you. Forever and ever.'

"See how much progress we have made through my lecture. You can't even pretend to lie to me," Tenshin pointed out with a smile that revived Naruto's twitchy eye.

Naruto looked over to the side to notice the sun setting, "I can't even go back to Mama's and bitch all day about you 'opening my mind to the world'."

Naruto wasn't allowed in the brothel during working hours. He didn't quite have the emotional control. Also, his Mama had some morals left and leaving an eight year old inside of a brothel during working hours crossed the line.

Kagemura smacked him over the head, "See. You can't even hide your thoughts from me. As vulgar as they are."

"I have my homework and books with me. I could stay and do it here," Naruto said changing the subject.

"Cute, but I have things to do. Like drink tea, read scrolls, write calligraphy in the sand, you know, monkly stuff," the 'monkly' monk instructed.

"You are the worst monk ever," the blonde stated.

"You've never seen a monk before me," Kagemura reminded him.

"I don't need to," Naruto deadpanned.

"Harsh," the old man said covering his heart with his right hand. "Breaks my heart."

"I don't like being alone," Naruto announced changing the direction of the conversation. The little prick couldn't help but make everything so serious.

"You need a hobby to pass the time and distract you," Naruto's newest sensei instructed.

"Suggestions?" Naruto asked.

"We will work on that tomorrow. For today go do your homework. Clean your apartment. Wash your dirty underwear. Go to bed early tonight. It has been a stressful day. Also, you need your sleep to be ready for me to invade your brain tomorrow," Kagemura told him.

Naruto placed his hands on his knees and pushed himself up from his kneeling position on the mat and did some light stretches, "No wonder you old people have so much trouble moving. Y'all keep still for too long."

"Such is the wisdom of youth," Kagemura noted after making his back pop loudly.

Naruto grabbed his backpack and threw it over one of his shoulders. Before he exited the pagoda's archway, Naruto turned around and mumbled out a small 'thank you'.

Kagemura gave a small smile and gently waved him goodbye.

"Now, then, time to give my monks in training in a little lesson about the proper way of treating all of this temple's guests," Tenshin mumbled to himself as he weighed his shakujo in his left hand.


	6. Busy Body

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not.

AN: My first fanfiction ever written. First time publishing to this site. Thank you for your patience. All reviews welcomed.

* * *

**Adapt or Die**

_By: Adoredra Fal'Naelra_

**Chapter 6 – Busy Body**

* * *

Kagemura Tenshin whacked the blonde that was bouncing side to side in front of him. _'How does he manage to do that? While sitting no less?'_ the old monk pondered. '_He's like a contained ball of energy. Well, at the end of the day, isn't that what the Kyubi was or is?'_

"I see that someone is showing his true colors," the retired Guardian said with a smile, while the blonde grumbled and rubbed the back of his head. "It is going to get rather old, if I have to beat the shit out of a diminutive eight-year old just to make him listen to me."

Naruto lost a little color in his face remembering the beating he received three days ago for therapeutic reasons and simply started to sway side to side.

The old monk shook his head from side to side, "I suppose that will have to do for now. What has you all riled up anyway?"

"It's Friday! The weekend is here! I can see Mama and my sisters instead of your ugly mug tomorrow. Finally, my prayers in this cursed temple have been answered," Naruto's eyes shone in pure mischievous mirth.

"My heart is touched. You managed to not only insult me, everyone who works here and my life's work, but also made it sound like a brothel is a holier locale. Congratulations," Kagemura deadpanned.

The blonde's smile stretched beyond normal proportions, "I know! Mama doesn't allow me to prank anyone, so I have to resort to other means. She calls it 'mind-fucking'."

" 'Mind-fucking'," the monk said astounded, "Your mother told you to 'mind-fuck', and why is that?"

"My original pranks resulted in various degrees of property damage and actually broke a few laws, but mind-fucking is completely legal, doesn't cost money and gets even better results!" the Naruto said puffing his chest out in pride.

"I see, and why do you find the need to prank and otherwise?" the monk asked meeting his limits for saying 'mind-fucks' in one day.

Naruto's smile never waned, "At first, it was for petty revenge for when people would overcharge me, disrespect me, not allow me to shop there, you get the point. Well, it probably still is, but I like it when people pay attention to me even if it is for the wrong things. So long as I get the attention because I have received very little attention that I so desire in my life. I know all of this because Mama told me so directly. She said, and I quote, 'You are the biggest attention-whore I have ever seen, and I run a brothel'."

After wiping a single fake tear away, the blonde expounded raising his hands in the air, "I'm an attention-whore!"

Kagemura's brain stopped for a few brief moments, as Naruto leaned forward into the monk's face smiling like a fool. _'I suppose some permanent damage would be caused from his early years, but it is good that he doesn't lie to himself. Much,'_ Tenshin observed.

"Well, a man who knows others is wise, but a man who knows himself is enlightened," the old monk quoted. "That said, I can't help but notice an improvement in your attitude."

"Oh, well that's because you already know everything about me. There is nothing to hide. At first, it was a weird feeling because I'm only used to that with Mama and the sisters," Naruto said until interrupted briefly.

"Because we both saw you at your weakest moment, when your walls were down," the monk pointed out. "What does it feel like that?

Naruto shuffled a little at that observation but continued, "Like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I feel liberated in a sense. Like I don't have to hold anything back. I don't have to be on the defensive and keep up my walls, I suppose. I can just be myself, and I'm happy. I'm happy around y'all."

"That truly is good to hear," the monk summarized, while Naruto continued to smile. At least, the boy didn't hate humanity as a whole just everyone but a monk, a Hokage and the employees of a brothel. He did say that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

"Three days ago you mentioned that you didn't like to be alone. You won't always be able to have people around you, as I am sure you know," Kagemura began. "Today we will be working on what to do in your free time, when you find yourself alone. Let's start with your likes and hobbies."

"Well, I like to play card games and do tricks with my sisters, but that isn't really something I can do alone," Naruto mumbled. "When I'm alone, I am usually doing my studies to become a better Shinobi. I like listening to music, while I study or read."

"Nothing wrong with music. What type of music do you listen too?" Kagemura asked.

"Really anything," Naruto admitted. "I use it as a distraction."

"Would you say the same thing about reading?" the monk questioned.

The blonde shrugged his shoulders, "I use it to escape. Like going to another world. A world where I am normal. A world where no one looks at me with _those _eyes. I don't read much anymore. It made me realize just how wrong my life is by seeing how _normal _people are treated. I mean I have always known that I was different, but. But not just how different."

"Would you say that you are different, or that people treat you differently?" Kagemura asked.

"I. I don't see the difference really, but I suppose that it is mainly people treating me differently. Despite what everyone says, I haven't really done anything too wrong to merit the type of reactions that I do. I've always been treated differently. I don't remember doing anything," Naruto said stumbling over his words.

"Never give them a reason that makes you feel like their looks are deserved, and there will be no problems. For now, I will have to agree with Hokage-sama and recommend you just ignore them," the monk said.

Naruto mumbled, "That's easy for you to say. As if you would understand."

"I don't understand because I have never been through the same thing. You are right," Kagemura sighed, "but at the same time, I do know how to handle the situation through other's experiences. Sakumo Hatake known as the 'White Fang of the Leaf' was a famous and powerful ninja of Konoha. Have you ever heard anything about him?"

"No," Naruto answered.

"I'll tell you why," Tenshin began. "Sakumo and his team were sent on a mission of great importance to Konoha. When his teammates' lives were endangered, Sakumo chose to abandon the mission in order to save them. The impact of the mission's failure caused Sakumo to be vilified by the Land of Fire, the villagers of Konoha, and even those he had saved. Dishonored, Sakumo fell into a deep depression, until he eventually committed suicide."

Naruto paled and shouted, "That's terrible!"

"Exactly," Kagemura lectured. "Are you going to kill yourself because of what other people think about you? Especially people you don't even know."

"No!" Naruto shouted in response.

"Good. Now let's get back on track," the monk said. "What are your other likes?"

Naruto placed his hand and rubbed methodically on his chin, "I like taking care of Mr. Ukki."

"Mr. Ukki?" the monk raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the Bonsai tree that grandpa gave me for my first day at the Academy to teach me responsibility," the blonde said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Right," Tenshin deadpanned. "Of course. I like gardening myself. Why do you like taking care of dear Mr. Ukki?"

"I don't know. I just like taking care of him. The fact that something depends on my actions is new and exhilarating despite it being so lame of a task," Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Also, Mr. Ukki reacts to what I do, you know? If I water him, his leaves are green. If I don't water him, his leaves will wilt. Not that I would ever let that happen."

"That is good to hear. It seems you're a natural, when it comes to responsibility despite appearances," Kagemura ignored Naruto's indignant squawk. "Have you given any thoughts about getting more plants? Didn't you say that your apartment has an outside balcony?"

Naruto vigorously nodded his head up and down, "I'm planning on creating a miniature garden like you have here at your temple on my patio. In fact, I am planning on renovating my whole entire apartment building."

"You own the apartment building?" Kagemura asked in surprise.

"I don't really understand why, but so long as I pay my rent every month I can do whatever I want to the whole entire building within reason according to grandpa," Naruto answered. "All of the other tenants fled when I moved into my room. I wonder why."

"Meh," Tenshin said blandly. "More for you."

"Exactly," Naruto smiled. "Who needs them anyway?"

"Not you," the monk answered the rhetorical question. "So it does seem like you have plenty to do in your free time. Although I would suggest breaking the task up into small parts, for instance, let's focus on the garden only at the moment."

Kagemura continued, "This will help you with your planning skills, and at the end you will be able to see the beauty of your own hard work. Furthermore, you will truly have something that is your own. Now, I would recommend that you go to the Yamanaka Flower Shop not too far from your apartment and buy a book to get ideas.

"Ugh," Naruto moaned. "More reading."

"Don't worry the book has pictures," the monk answered smugly.

* * *

Ino Yamanaka was bored out of her mind. She was tending to the family's shop, the Yamanaka Flower Shop to be specific. While she liked flowers and gardening, she wanted to go out and do something. Like shopping. She loved shopping.

Instead of spending time with her friends after school on a Friday, she was manning the register behind the desk of the family shop.

While the majority of the plants were currently being grown in the greenhouse behind the shop, impressive amounts of flowers were on display before the desk.

She was buffing her recently painted purple fingernails, when she heard the door chime. She lazily brought her head up and automatically said, "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. How can I help you?"

An amused voice replied before she brought her head up, "Aren't you a little young to be working?"

"I'm perfectly capable, but if you want, I can go get daddy," Ino replied before seeing a vaguely familiar mop of blonde hair on a shrimp of a boy. "Wait, you're that kid in my class!"

" 'That kid'," the blonde said as if trying out the words. "Yes, I am 'that kid', and 'that kid' wants to know if you have any books on gardening."

Ino rolled her eyes ignoring the boy's overreaction, "Of course, we have books on gardening. This is a flower shop. I'll show you where we keep them. We have a large selection ranging from specific care books for exotic plants to almanacs to general how-to guides."

Of course, the blonde was 'that kid'. Ino would admit that she was an incorrigible gossip. After the entire ruckus the runt managed to kick up in the first two days of class, Ino went around school asking anyone that seemed to spend a few moments with the boy which was surprisingly few.

Shikamaru and Choji, the lazy bums, were of no help. They knew nothing about the boy other than his innate hatred for clan children. _'Bah,'_ Ino thought distastefully, _'just another jealous loser. No one could control who his or her parents were. It just happened that way.'_

The only decent piece of information came from Shino Aburame who told her that the boy had extremely impressive chakra reserves for someone their age. In fact, the boy had more chakra than Saji-sensei.

After Ino got over how disgusting Shino's bugs were, she couldn't help but wonder. The boy's parents must have been Shinobi to have those insane levels of chakra, yet no one will tell me about his parents. When she asked her own father about the boy's mother who showed up to school one day to disciple the brat, Ino's father flushed in the cheeks a little looking over to his mother until saying that Naruto was an orphan and is adopted.

When Ino pressed for more information, her father and Yamanaka clan head, Inoichi, told her that he didn't know anymore, and that she should focus more on her studies. That's when Ino decided to drop her bombshell that the boy claimed that he was the child of a Yamanaka and Inuzuka.

"_Where did that boy come up with that nonsense," Inoichi wondered out loud._

"_He pointed at his blonde hair and his whisker marks," Ino supplied helpfully. The more information she gave, the more she was likely to receive._

"_Well, Ino, that is simply not true. I can attest to this fact myself as the clan head that no Yamanaka was pregnant around eight years ago nor was there any Yamanaka not apart of the clan," Inoichi lectured. "I'll be having a conversation with the boy's mother about this and to hopefully settle this matter. We can't allow this misinformation."_

'_Great,' Ino thought. 'Some use you are.'_

"Here is the selection for you to look at," Ino drawled out.

"Thank you," Naruto said walking towards the how-to section and not making eye contact. "Also, could you go please get your _daddy _and give him this envelope? Thank you. Love you forever and ever."

Ino stuck her tongue out in disgust. That was the worst attempt at flirting she has ever heard. Nonetheless, Ino grabbed the envelope and walked to the back of the store where he father would probably be working in the greenhouse or in his study. He currently had the day off from his usual job at Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Division.

Ino walked into the greenhouse to see her father spraying water onto a lavender-hued orchid. "Daddy, that kid from class that I was talking to you about earlier this week is here, and he told me to hand you this envelope."

Inoichi gave one last look at the orchid and turned around to grab the envelope, "Thank you, love."

Ino's father grabbed a nearby pair of clippers and opened the envelope to pull out what looked like a rather large request order with a bright-red lipstick kiss on the upper corner that Ino could see from the other side.

Inoichi raised an eyebrow as he briefly looked down the list only to come to what Ino suspected to be the note at the bottom and his other eyebrow met the other in his hairline. Ino's father shook his head once, "I really shouldn't be surprised anymore, but she still manages to find a way. Ino-love, let's go back to the front. I need to go discuss something with Naruto."

She merely shrugged her shoulders and started to lead the way out of the greenhouse. Naruto was looking over a how-to make your own garden book when they met up with him. In response to the blonde continuing to ignore their presence, Ino loudly cleared her throat.

Naruto turned around closing the how-to book he was reading and bowed respectfully, "Ah, Inoichi-sama, it's an honor."

Ino was speechless and merely tilted her head to her father with an expression clearly reflecting her confusion. What game was the boy playing? Inoichi simply chuckled to himself, "Inoichi is fine, Naruto-kun. Tell Kurmochi-san that I will be able to fulfill her order on time at the usual rate. She added an interesting note to the order. I hope you haven't started dabbling in poisons and toxins so early in life?"

The blonde sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "I haven't started handling them, per-se, but I have taken a slight interest in them. Mama says poisons are what evens the playing field when fighting, and you know me, I need everything I can get just to be on the same field as you clan folk."

Inoichi frowned at that but looked at the book Naruto was holding, "I see your planning on getting into gardening yourself. I hope it's not for poisons because we can't sell those types of plants. Konoha does not wish to risk losing sole knowledge of how we make our poisons."

"I wasn't thinking about that, but now that you mention it," Naruto stated rubbing his chin before shacking the thought away. "I was simply hoping to have a little garden on my apartment's balcony is all."

"Oh, really, how wonderful," Inoichi said. "An aspiring green thumb. If I may be so bold, what has peeked your interest into gardening if not poisons?"

Ino eyes widened, _'So that is how Daddy is able to get so much gossip. He asks little indirect questions rather than asking out right. Keeps them from getting on the defensive.'_

"Grandpa got me a Bonsai tree for my first day at the Academy. He said it was a lesson for responsibility, so I named him Mr. Ukki. I've been taking care of him ever sense, and I guess I've taken a liking to plants," Naruto said with a smile, "and then the garden at the Fire Temple in Konoha caught my attention. Tenshin-sama is right. 'If ever a mortal heard the word of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day.' So I thought, 'hey, why don't I make my own garden, so I can hear the word of God whenever I want.' Cool, right?"

'_So he got a plant and named it. Odd. And what is this of visiting a Temple? It really is interesting to see how much you can learn from a simple innocuous question,'_ Ino analyzed.

Inoichi chuckled, "Indeed. Have you given any thoughts into what you want?"

"Well, I've been thinking of surrounding the outside of the balcony with relatively tall shrubbery by installing a wooden barrier to fill with the soil. On the street side, I will surround it with ivy to dangle off the side, and on the apartment side, I'll have some potted plants around the space. I'm thinking some tea plants, a few of those flowers that attract butterflies and some herbs like mint and basil," Naruto said detailing his plan so far. "Oh, and small little fountain in the middle. I love the sound of running water. It's really calming, and I'll of course have a stone bench or something like that to use. By the door and on the wall, I'll be installing some trellises for more vines. I'm thinking passionflower vines because they are awesome."

"That's quite impressive, Naruto-kun," Inoichi said honestly. "You must have been giving this project some thought. If you need any help, I'll be more than willing to give advice. I'm assuming you will be shopping with us for your supplies. I might need to order a few of those items to get it together for you."

Naruto beamed, "Of course! This is the best gardening store in Konoha! By next weekend, I'll have my plan down for sure, and I'll have a list of everything I need. Believe it!"

"I have no doubts, my boy," Inoichi smiled before warning. "This project might get a little pricey though. Are you sure you have the funds before you commit?"

"Yep!" Naruto answered in his same exuberance. "I've been keeping a very detailed track of all my finances thanks to Mama's advice. She's the best like that."

"How about this? I'll give you that how-to book for free if you promise to shop here for your gardening," Inoichi offered.

"Sounds like a deal," Naruto smiled before offering his hand for a handshake with the book in the other.

Inoichi leaned down a little to shake his hand. Ino, however, was confused. The boy was obviously going to shop with them anyway. Why give the book out for free?

Naruto placed the book in his backpack after shaking Ino's father's hand and walked out of the store. Once Ino heard the door chime and the door close signaling Naruto's departure, she asked her father why he gave the book away.

"Because it was a sign of good business. Also, he might get more ideas for his garden which means he will spend more money," Inoichi said as he walked Ino towards the counter.

"Why are you still smiling?" Ino asked her father a little bothered.

"Because the boy knows how to play the game," Inoichi explained which only made Ino want to ask more questions.

When Ino walked past the last bushel of flowers blocking the view of the door, she saw that Naruto was in fact still inside the door. Then, the blonde had the nerve to wink at her and possibly her father before walking out the door for real.

Ino could only stare at her father's amused expression and back to the door again.

* * *

Tenten was polishing and sharpening her kunai and shuriken out of habit while occasionally flipping to the next page of the latest 'Tactical Life' magazine that she was reading at the same time. She wasn't ashamed. She absolutely loved weapons, especially the pointy ones.

She might not believe in fate to the point of that Neji kid in her class, but she would thank the gods for meeting her adopted father at the Orphanage. Not only did her adopted father remove her from the overcrowded Konoha Orphanage at the age of six but introduced her to the life of steel and sweat. She absolutely loved weapons of all varieties.

One could always trust a well-made blade.

The panda-hairstyle girl stopped sharpening the kunai and reading the magazine when she saw a diminutive boy around her age with a mop of shaggy blonde hair walk into her father's store. The backpack-clad boy walked up to the counter where only the tips of his hair peered across the top. Tenten would have found the whole scene rather amusing if she couldn't help but feel that she had seen the boy before.

Tenten started to crane her neck across the counter to get a better look before bright blue-eyes suddenly filled her vision. She naturally recoiled back into her seat to see the amused grin on the boy's face. Apparently, the brat quickly propped himself up on the counter by his arms and was standing on his tippy-toes, "Hello! My name is Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet ya! Would you happen to know if Kenji Tamahagane is in? I have a request order from Mama."

"He's in the back just finishing the last batch of kunai," Tenten said trying to get her heartbeat under control. "I'll go get him. Would you mind telling me your 'Mama's' name?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "My bad, of course. Her name is Mura Kurmochi."

"Be free to look around the store to see if anything catches your eye. We will be more than happy to help you," the weapons enthusiast nodded her head and walked to the back of the store. A customer was a customer was a customer, "I'll be right back with Tamahagane."

Taking one more look at the whisker-cheeked boy who was looking at all of the weapons on the walls and down the shelves, Tenten couldn't help but feel like she had seem him from somewhere. She knew that her inability to solve the mystery going on in the back of her head did not look good for her intelligence. Who forgets seeing a boy with golden hair, azure eyes, perfect whisker marks and sun-kissed skin?

He might as well run around wearing a neon-orange jumpsuit. Tenten cringed at the thought of someone wearing that jumpsuit that came into the store one day. She personally wanted to dress up a training dummy with that and use it for target practice, but father thought it would be hilarious if any Shinobi ever were to wear it.

Maybe, she saw him from the Orphanage, as his last name and his 'Mama's' last name clearly did not match. Tenten would gladly admit her memory of that overcrowded hole-in-the-wall was not the best. She was too young to have a vivid memory, and her father adopted her one beautiful day when she was six years old. Furthermore, the Orphanage Matrons always tried to keep the boys and girls separated to avoid any more conflict than there already was. All Tenten knew of her actual parents was that they were both victims during the Kyubi attack, but she the horror stories that some of the older orphans would tell would bring her to tears and hide under her bed sheets.

When she entered the back of the shop, her adopted father, Kenji Tamahagane was putting away all of his tools for the day. Tenten noticed the sun starting to get lower in the sky from the large window on the side of the wall. Tenten praised the gods that her father installed that window, or he would have been in the back of the shop working until he dropped.

The blacksmith was a large bear of a man wearing the stereotypical leather apron showing off his large chest and huge arms gained through years of hard work. Kenji used the towel around his neck to wipe off the remnants of sweat on his forehead, "What can I do for you, panda-chan?"

He never let up on Tenten's choice of hairstyle. She wanted long hair, but at the same time, she needed to keep it up from getting in the way. Thus, she invented the double bun hairstyle ready to serve all Kunoichi in their daily tasks of espionage, assassination and seduction.

"A boy by the name of Naruto Uzumaki is here with a request order from his mother Mura Kurmochi," Tenten said with a tick in her eye from her dad's attempt at humor.

Tenten couldn't remember the last time she saw the look of pure shock on her father's face, but she wouldn't be forgetting it anytime soon. "Did you just say Naruto Uzumaki's mother is Mura Kurmochi?" Kenji asked clearly not believing a single word.

"Yeah," Tenten hedged. "What's the big deal?"

Tamahagane erupted into a fit of loud, obnoxious laughter that no one would have imagined could come from such a bear of a man. "What's the big deal," Kenji laughed with tears in his eyes and began slapping his knees. "What's the big deal? So much! So much is wrong with that one statement that I honestly don't know where to start."

Tenten just continued to stare speechless before her father seemed to gain some semblance of control, "I have to see this. It'll be like looking at a unicorn!"

The weapon's enthusiast shied a little bit away from her adopted father who was clearly losing his grip on sanity. Kenji simply interpreted his daughter's actions as a sign for him to lead the way back to the front of the store. Tenten shook her head still not able to understand just how her father was able to make a seven-foot tall doorframe look small and inadequate.

She noticed Tamahagane stalking up and down the entrances to the aisles of the shop until stopping in front of the men's clothing section. The bear of the man was visibly shuddering in mirth. Deciding she wanted to see what was going on, Tenten stood by her father and noticed that the blue-eyed blonde was lifting up the previously mentioned orange jumpsuit with blue shoulders.

Naruto seemed to notice their attention when he turned to face them holding the jumpsuit in front of him. Apparently, he was taking his father's amusement as a good sign and smiled while modeling before them with the jumpsuit pressed against his chest, "So? You like it? Orange is my favorite color, and if I'm to be a kickass Shinobi, then I need some kickass threads."

Tenten decided she couldn't let Naruto ruin not only his image but the younger generation's image as a whole by wearing that monstrosity, "It's not for sale."

"Awww," Naruto whined. "I was thinking of getting it."

"Sorry. I should have taken it off the rack beforehand. Someone's already bought it, and we are reserving it for them," Tenten quickly explained with a giant lie. If her father was planning on refuting Tenten's claim that it wasn't on sale, then she would make sure that he would have to call her a liar at first. She might be abusing their relationship, but she knew he would not cross that line just for a prank.

"Now, Tenten," Kenji said. "You broke his poor little heart there. Hello, there son. I'm Kenji Tamahagane of Tamahagane's weapon store, and I here you have a provision request order for me from a certain Mura Kurmochi."

The blonde vigorously nodded his head, "Yep! Here ya go." Tenten had to blink at the speed at which the runt closed the distance. Even worse, Naruto was trying to shove the envelope into the giant of a man's face, but his arms could only reach to the lower half of Kenji's torso.

"Shame that someone already bought the jumpsuit," Tamahagane said in false sincerity. "I'm sure Kurmochi-san would have loved to have seen you in it."

"Oh, really you think so," Naruto said in confusion and self-doubt. "I kinda felt like she would have absolutely hated it and make me return it immediately. She just doesn't understand the awesomeness of orange."

"Like I said, a shame really," Kenji acquiesced while roughly opening the envelope with his pinky finger. "Hmmm. I see. A bulk order of senbon, a few customized tessens*, various stealth items and ninja wire. Apparently, she was not pleased with her previous outfitter."

Kenji stopped there and looked Naruto over as if the blonde could enlighten him on the situation, "Yeah. The bastard was a total jerk. Wouldn't even let me in the store. Good riddance, I say. Who needs him anyway? You're awesome."

The large man chuckled which came out more as a deep rumble before continuing to read the order, "Oh look here Tenten."

Tenten looked over at the letter and the last paragraph that her father was pointing at. In elegant script, it said, _'Whatever you do. Do not allow the twerp to buy anything stupid especially anything in orange.'_

"Always thinking ahead that Mura is," Kenji observed with distant eyes. "I see she really hasn't changed too much. Thank the Gods. I was starting to have to plan for the End of Days."

"Please tell Kurmochi-san that I will be able to fulfill the order," Kenji continued. "Enough about that though. Has anything else caught your attention?"

Naruto shook his head in denial, "No sir. Just the jumpsuit."

"Have you seen our weapon's selection? You might find your soul mate there in all of her steely goodness," Kenji suggested. After Naruto shook his head again, Kenji motioned for the blond to follow him.

"You see. I'm a blacksmith. Well, ever sense I became unable to use my chakra after that Kumo-nin in the Third Shinobi War fried my coils," the large man lectured.

After hearing Naruto's customary 'That's terrible!', Kenji continued, "I dedicated myself to the family business you see. So I take great pride my work here. I always do love it when a prospective client of mine peruses my wares. Soothes the ego, if you will."

Tenten kept at her father's side the whole time nodding her head with the story she has heard a million times. Apparently, a little life story makes the customer feel attached to the store and improves customer loyalty. She would never have imagined that considering her own rather dull one.

"So cool," Naruto said eyes going wide like a crystal-blue lake. It reminded Tenten of herself, when her adopted father first showed her his collection. Naruto began to get up-close in personal with the wide selection of weapons hanging on the wall, resting on shelves and leaning against various containers.

The weapon's section contained katanas, kamas, tantos, tessens, kodachis, tsurugi broadswords, wakizashis, chigiriki wooden staves with a chain and spiked iron weight, fukedake blow guns and their respective Fuki-ya darts, juttes, kagenawa grappling hooks, kobutan knuckledusters, kusari fundo chains with two weighted ends, naginatas, sasumata spear forks, cat claws, ninjatos, sai daggers with two curved outward protruding prongs, ono hatchets, bo staves, hanbo half-staves, kusarigama chain-scythes, and kanabo truncheons.

Naruto's pudgy little hands floated over all the items. Tenten could see Naruto envisioning himself using them. Over a few of the items, the blonde mentioned how he could see some of his friends using various items. Apparently, a certain Shino Aburame could use two kamas along with a fukedake because 'he looked like the kinda guy who would use them'.

Oddly enough, it was not the swords and daggers that grabbed the majority of the blonde's attention, but the bo staves, yari spears and the kusarigamas. Naruto seemed to be having a mental fight with himself over which ones to pay the most attention to.

Sensing this, Tenten said, "Each weapon requires a life's devotion to master unless of course you planning on specializing in shurikenjutsu like myself and mastering all weapons."

Naruto deflated a little before hearing the tail end of her statement, "That's so cool of you to have such an awesome dream. To be able to use any weapon and be the master of it."

The blonde rubbed the back of his head and grinned at her, "I almost want to copy your dream looking at all of these weapons, but Mama said I need to always diversify my skills. Something about me needing to be round and able to handle any situation I manage to get myself into. Apparently, she can already see me getting into a bunch of trouble. No faith these days."

Tamahagane did his rumbling-chuckle again, "Maybe Tenten could go see her to practice her hobby in fortune telling."

Naruto quickly waved his hands out, "I don't think that would be a good idea. I mean, nothing against you. It's just that you are a girl. Wait, no. That came out wrong. I mean. It's complicated. Yeah. That's what I am supposed to say before I say something stupid. It's complicated."

Tenten felt anger flush her cheeks at that statement. She hated it when people told her what she could or couldn't do based on her gender. She was about to give the brat a piece of her mind before her father but one of his man-hands on her shoulder, "Maybe that is for the best as well."

Naruto deflated along with the situation, "Thank you for understanding. It was not my intention to offend."

"You sound just like Mura sometimes," Kenji noted with a smile.

The blue-eyed boy flushed under the observation that Tenten assumed that the brat was taking as praise. Then, he held his hands behind his back, slouched his shoulders and used on his feet to dig a hole in the ground. The picture of shyness that reminded her of that Neji character's cousin.

"I'm flattered," the blonde said just above a whisper before giving one more forlorn look at the kusarigama and devoting his attention to the bo staves and yari spears. Blue eyes flashed between the two with interest before landing one specific yari spear.

It was a kamayari sickle spear with two protrusions shooting off the base of the main spear tip. Essentially, it was a yari spear with kama blades at the base of the blade to assist in hooking things. The hooks were large enough to hold the head, neck or jaw or to hook limbs of a swordsman on the ground, thus it was different in function in this respect from the other types of yari spears.

This kamayari in specific was custom-made by her father himself. Unlike other kamayari, this one had retractable kama blades that could be opened or closed based on the user's actions. Even better, the kama could be opened separately as there were three buttons – one for the left, the other for the right, and the bottom one for both of them. Meanwhile, the permanent spear tip resembled a foot long kunai, and the butt of the spear was made of metal.

Naruto began to trace his index finger down the wooden staff of the kamayari before looking to the side at the kusarigama and getting a thoughtful look into his blue eyes.

"Could you further customize a weapon?" Naruto suddenly asked.

"Depends on what you are thinking, son," Kenji answered without committing.

"I'm thinking of adding a coil of chain through the core of the staff," Naruto replied. "Therefore, the user could separate the staff of the spear making it similar to a kusarigama. Thus, if the user were to block a strike with the staff, he could detach both ends and entangle the strike with the chains. Or, the user could use the chains to shoot the spear outwards."

Kenji put a hand to his chiseled chin thinking about whether or not the idea had any merits. Tenten believed it to be plausible, but she wasn't the weaponsmith. "Your idea would work only if the chain was made from chakra-conducting material, and that stuff is pricey. If you were to make the chain chakra-conductive, then you might as well make the spear tip and kama chakra-conductive blades as well for nature transformations."

"How much would you be talking with the price of the staff and additions included?" Naruto hedged.

Tamahagane listed his price followed by an indignant squawk by Naruto, "If you are truly interested in acquiring such a weapon, then I would suggest buying a practice weapon. Follow me over to our practice weapons."

The trio walked to a smaller aisle that contained the wooden alternatives for the weapons that they just browsed. Kenji picked out a wooden yari spear with practiced ease and stood it up to the blonde, "This is the best practice yari spear for someone your size to begin with. The blade length is still a foot long but the shaft is merely three feet long bringing it to just about your height."

The shop owner continued, "The handle is constructed from two laminated hickory boards for maximum durability and to help prevent warping. The blade is made from tang which is laminated and riveted into the handle for superior strength. Meanwhile, the shaft and butt of the staff are made from hickory. Thus, the whole spear weighs around 2 or so pounds."

"Unlike the real weapons we were previously looking at," Tamahagane said, "these practice weapons are several times cheaper. Since you are doing business with Kurmochi-san, I will also give a little discount if you buy this practice weapon. In fact, I will sweeten the deal even more. You can pay for the weapon in monthly payments until May when your school year ends. I will also be willing to exchange the practice weapon for a small fee granted if it is in decent enough shape for one of a larger size to match your physical growth. Well, I hope you grow, or you are going to be forced to do stealth missions for the rest of your life."

Naruto was practically salivating at the mouth and ignored Kenji's last statement. Tenten wanted to slap her father over the back of his head for not being able to resist the childish remark over the blonde's rather small stature.

"So. So how much are we talking here?" Naruto said shimmering blue eyes that distinctly reminded Tenten of puppies.

Kenji listed off the price and couldn't help the smile, "Mura sure did teach you well." Tenten assumed he was referring to the boy's abusive control over his eyes.

Naruto nodded his head once while closing his eyes giving him a foxlike expression, "That's a whole month's stipend from grandpa, but spread out over a month is not too bad at all. You've got yourself a deal Tamahagane-san. In fact, I believe Gama-chan here has your first payment."

The blonde fished out a bulging green frog-shaped wallet from his kimono and grabbed out the necessary ryo notes handing them to Tenten's father mumbling something about delaying renovations. In response, Kenji handed Naruto his newly acquired wooden yari spear, "Pleasure doing business."

After Naruto gave a brief bow in thanks, Kenji and Tenten walked Naruto to the front of the store, where her father added, "And please do tell Kurmochi-san that it will be a pleasure doing business with her as well. Also, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, ask if her she would like to get tea sometime. I have a feeling us old parent-folks would have much to talk about, you see. Old age and everything."

"For sure," Naruto said before waving at Tenten and her father and exiting the store.

Tenten couldn't help herself from asking, "Why did you sell the practice weapon for so cheap?"

"Because, panda-chan," Kenji began with a rueful smile, "if he buys a chakra-conductive kusari-coiled kamayari, then I will be a very rich man. The cheap practice weapon is merely the bait to catch the big fish, and I have a feeling the real weapon will be his savings for the next three years. You can tell by the gleam in his eye."

* * *

AN: I know the gardening from my father, and I looked up the Japanese weapons by searching on Google: "List of Ninja Weapons". I personally invented the staff idea by mixing a kamayari and a kusarigama because I couldn't decide which one. I was also initially inspirited by the staff used in the recent Hercules movie with the Rock.


	7. The Blonde Mystery

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not.

AN: My first fanfiction ever written. First time publishing to this site. Thank you for your patience. All reviews welcomed.

* * *

**Adapt or Die**

_By: Adoredra Fal'Naelra_

**Chapter 7 – The Blonde Mystery**

* * *

Mura Kurmochi walked out of her office with three recently completed request orders for the Nara, Akimichi and Aburame clans. While she could have used any one of the sisters to accomplish this task like she originally did, Madame Kurmochi found the request orders as an excellent opportunity to introduce Naruto to his more influential classmates and their families. Mura liked to think of them as her own D-rank missions, since she even paid the brat a few ryo notes to accomplish the chore.

If anyone asked her, then she would say that she spoiled the upstart blonde. She paid the boy to do something that was beneficial for him, and he was getting a kickback, as he would also be receiving his own poisons, weapons, apparel, medicine and pills for his aspiring-Shinobi training.

Mura knew that the clan children had higher graduation rates and passing their sensei's test to deem if they were truly worthy. The clan children were taught before they even joined the academy, had clan techniques and their parents were Shinobi themselves.

She knew this more than most, since she raised herself from the bastard child of a whore to one of the top Kunoichis in the Hidden Village in the Leaves regardless of public acknowledgment. She knew how hard it was struggling from the bottom just to play on the same field as the clansmen Shinobi.

Furthermore, the last thing she wanted for her adopted-son was for him to get washed-up into the Genin corps like the majority of Academy students who failed their Jonin-sensei's tests. While she knew that the boy had a will of steel and a hardhead to match, the boy simply would not be able to handle being thrown around from team to team with no one wanting to even associate themselves with him. If there was one thing that Madame Mura Kurmochi wasn't, it was delusional.

"I'm too damn smart for my own good," the brothel-owner mused to herself, as she descended down the stairs to the common room.

The object of her thoughts was currently sitting on a coach leaning over excessively because of his height to play his hand of cards on the coffee table surrounded by his 'sisters' and her employees/daughters.

"I win, big sister Rei," the diminutive blonde shouted in his high pre-pubescent voice with a smile that was starting to break the known rules of physics. "Four-of-a-kind, seven high!"

The buxom brunette simply shooked her head in amusement, "I will never understand where you got all of your luck from."

"Because I am awesome," Naruto retorted with a blinding smile.

Mura was half-surprised that some of the brothel-workers still played games of luck and chance with the eight year old. It didn't matter if it was cards, dice or cups; the boy always seemed to win. Kurmochi believed that it was somehow related to the hand that life handed the boy the day he was born.

"Yes, well, Mr. Awesome," Mura said gaining everyone's attention in the room. "You need to go with Rei-chan and get bathed. I have some more errands for you to run today before you go back to your apartment."

She would never refer to Naruto's apartment given to him by the Hokage as home. His home was with her regardless if he couldn't be in the brothel once opening hours started.

A rush of emotions rolled over Naruto's face. A slight blush for having to be bathed and dressed. An instinctual need to say that he didn't need to be babied despite absolutely loving all of the attention given to him. A hint of fear for being the victim of one of her girl's 'Naruto dress-up' games. Last and most certainly not least was the boy's overwhelming desire to please her and make her proud of him.

Naruto jumped from his seat on the couch and almost tackled her before slowing down at the last moment. It took a few weeks to break him of that habit. He latched onto her with a deceptively strong grip and looked up in pure joy ignoring everything she previously said, "I promise I'll make you proud Mama! Believe it!"

Mura could only smile at the boy's enthusiasm, "I have no doubt that you will. You still find ways to surprise Mama-dearest."

Naruto's gleaming smile finally broke the rules of conventional physics.

"Now get going, young one," Mura continued. "Wouldn't want to be late, now do we?"

"Of course! Of course! Let's go big sister Rei! I have errands to run for Mama," Naruto shouted and bounced in place a few times.

Kurmochi watched as the eight year old practically dragged poor Rei to a room on the bottom floor of the brothel where they kept the child's clothes. His sisters truly loved playing dress-up with the boy and continuously buy him clothes to wear. She initially told them to stop wasting their money like that, but they said they were going to save the clothes to share with their own children one day in a community pool of androgynous young boy's clothes. Never doubt the ingenuity of a group of brothel workers.

Mura had no idea what she got herself into when she picked the boy up out of the rain, yet such were the consequences of a sisterhood given a child to take care of.

The Madame was glad that the boy was back into good spirits. Later yesterday evening she received a letter from Inoichi Yamanaka, a clan head, regarding Naruto's assumptions to his parentage. Kurmochi had to privately approve of Naruto's educated guess.

Apparently, his deduction skills have been improving ever since she rather brutally opened up his eyes to the world around him. When she adopted him, the boy developed a mental barrier to the cruel world around him and didn't want to leave the brothel. It almost broke her heart, but the last thing was going to do was be the cause for mental disorders in a Jinchuriki.

Nonetheless, Naruto's assumptions were rather far-fetched when looked at closely. The Inuzuka clan did not have birthmarks; they had tribal tattoos. Also, the Yamanaka clan had platinum blonde hair not golden-spun hair like him. It was obvious to her at least that the boy was merely latching on to the closest thing he could reach in terms of determining his heritage.

Thus, Mura had to inform Naruto that his educated guesses were incorrect. Of course, the whole discussion had to revolve around the boy's ceaseless desire to know who or what his parents were. She was his mother, and that was all he needed to know in her opinion.

Once she distanced herself from her own selfishness, she could sympathize with the poor boy's plight. She herself always wanted to know who her father was that abandoned her even if it was to brutally castrate him. Naruto never really did recover, when the Hokage in his genius decided to tell Naruto that it didn't matter who his biological parents were. And to top things off, the Third also told the boy that he wasn't even truly an Uzumaki. Instead, his family name was nothing more than a placeholder to recognize his parent's noble sacrifice in the defense of Konoha during the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's fateful assault. Thus, no one really knew who his parents were. Just that they were probably dead. Of course, Naruto also believed that they might be alive but just abandoned him at birth because he truly was a Demon.

Naruto spent the whole day crying in her chest until he eventually ran out of tears and eventually cried himself to sleep.

After that event, Mura had to once more pick up the pieces created by the all-wise Professor-Hokage. While she didn't dedicate herself to identifying Naruto's parents, Mura would admit that she was intrigued to at least find out who they were.

Furthermore, she wanted to see just who the two people who procreated Naruto because he did have very interesting takes on certain things that cannot all be explained by his earlier childhood. Mura secretly was also jealous of his parent's looks unless the Kyubi had any influence other than the whisker marks and elongated canines.

The golden-brown skin, sun-kissed blonde hair, bright blue eyes that put the oceans to shame and the cutest physique once he managed to gain enough weight. She blamed her overeager use of adjectives on her profession. She knew beauty when she say it. She dealt in the business of selling skin after all. And if anyone knew that looks kill, it would be the one-and-only Mura Kurmochi.

Those whores from the Land of Grass could suck it for all she cared. She still needed to work on her use of double-entendres. It was even being passed onto her innocent Naru-chan. She snorted, _'Innocent my firm and perky ass.'_

Mura smiled at that thought as she remembered telling Naruto the importance of self-confidence rather right or wrong, _'If you don't believe in yourself, who will?'_

She still laughed out loud when in privacy, when the boy would loudly proclaim his pride in being wrong half of the time because he wasn't afraid of who he was, where he came from or what he said or did. Because he was goddamn Naruto Uzumaki, and you were lucky enough to be in his goddamn presence.

And this brought her back to Naruto's mysterious parentage because that attitude distinctly reminded her of the unique and truly only one of her kind, Kushina Uzumaki. Or so she thought because the boy's attitude at moments completely aligned with the famed Red Hot-Blooded Habanero herself. Also, Kushina had a verbal tic just like Naruto although hers was different along the lines of 'ya know?' instead of 'believe it'.

As a fellow Jonin Kunoichi, Kurmochi became good friends with her companion Leaf Shinobi. Kushina never once judged her for Mura's chosen specialty into the arts of seduction and assassination. While Kushina preferred to handle situations head-on with her unique ninjutsu style, she could still appreciate Kurmochi's more subtle techniques to get the same job done. Two different ways to get at the same destination one could say.

In fact, the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero asked her for tips in the bedroom a few times to impress her man. Mura couldn't believe what she heard at first until getting her senses back. One of the few times she was ever truly speechless. No other Kunoichi that Mura had the pleasure of knowing would even think on having such a conversation with a baseless-woman like herself.

Unfortunately, Mura could never find out who her boyfriend-turned-fiancé-turned-husband was. Kushina would always claim that it was top secret. Another time that Mura was left speechless. The damn redhead couldn't keep quiet for more than five minutes at a time once you truly got to know her, and she wouldn't even tell her who her blasted husband was. Kurmochi really wanted to meet that man to tell him how lucky he truly was, and the bastard probably knew it too.

The luck of some people. There she went again. Another comparison between the two although this one was a little more far-fetched.

In terms of physicality, Mura remembered that Kushina mentioned that her facial structure was round like that of a tomato at a young age. She smirked at the thought of seeing her beat up those bullies that laughed at her and called her a tomato to a pulp. Naruto's current face was also an adorable chubby circle filled with whisker marks and giant blue eyes. The child really was a chibi no matter how much he wanted to deny it.

While Kushina as a respected Jonin Kunoichi and loyal wife was very levelheaded and cheerful with a noticeable sassy side to her, she still retained her quick temper and lashed out violently. Apparently, in her youth, she was extremely quick to rise to excitement at the least bit of action. This quickly translated to her talkative and tomboyish nature once you got to know her like Mura Kurmochi did. These were all characteristics that Mura would easily apply to Naruto himself. Before she finished training Naruto in controlling his instinctual response to everything, the boy would literally butt his nose in everyone's and everything's business with his loud and obnoxious behavior.

All of this could be proven without a doubt to anyone that had seen her in combat. She was the epitome of a strong-willed spirit and fearless warrior who disproved all of her naysayers as she revealed her deceptive strength, extraordinary chakra reserves and equally strong chakra type that manifested into golden chakra chains.

As an Uzumaki, she also retained her bloodline's strong life-force that resulted in their tremendous stamina, vitality and potentially long lifespan. Furthermore, she knew advanced Sealing Arts and barrier ninjutsu to assist her allies in combat when she was unable to fight on the front lines much to her chagrin.

Although Mura could correlate Naruto's insane chakra reserves to Kushina, the Kyubi serving as the boy's chakra battery clearly took precedent over the matter. Also, she had no idea of how Naruto would actually behave in live combat, as he was only an eight year old. Furthermore, the boy couldn't even access his chakra much less develop it into chakra chains that are an Uzumaki bloodline limit and technique.

Worst of all the blonde did not have the most important feature common to all Uzumakis - the distinctive fiery-red hair. His on the other hand was as yellow as the sun on a cloudless day. To top it off, Kushina had fair skin and violet eyes, while Naruto was naturally tan with blue eyes. Other than the shape of his head, Naruto's only resemblance could possibly be the similar slender figure but that wasn't even worth the thought in her head. The boy hasn't even hit puberty that radically changes the physiques of many men, and all Kunoichi have a slender figure that goes hand in hand with their career choice.

In conclusion, Naruto's 'Mama' couldn't tell the boy that the only other known Uzumaki in the village that conveniently died the day of the Kyubi attack and hadn't been seen for around a year beforehand would be Kushina Uzumaki. Without a doubt, the boy would latch onto that one hint and research it withering away in his apartment like he did with the censored documents on the Kyubi attack.

Nonetheless, she would tell the boy that the only one way to see without a doubt that he was an Uzumaki would be if he could develop those chakra chains. Other people have red hair and non-Uzumakis could master the Sealing Arts like the Toad Sage Jiraiya and his student the Fourth Hokage. Granted, the boy would probably work himself to death, but it would finally give him the closure that Mura knew that he desperately needed and that was the only thing she could give other than her undying love.

While she was mainly joking just to get a rise out of the sensei and the students when she said she should have been a teacher, she actually was a teacher, just a teacher in a different art form. Her brothel during working and non-working hours was also a school for fellow Kunoichi who needed to work on their seduction skills, honing their feminine wiles and otherwise learning more about being a Kunoichi.

She would teach them about wearing a lethal hairpin such as a senbon or thin dagger for assassination purposes. She impressed upon them the importance of using poison to level the playing field or for assassination as well. Thus, they would need to learn how to preform a proper tea ceremony but with poisoned tea.

She would teach the more tomboyish girls how to properly wear a dress or kimono and how to wield the accompanying tessen for self-defense or offensively. Also, she gave a reminder course in dancing and flower arranging and pressing in case those skills became rusty over their career as a Kunoichi after graduation at the Academy.

The majority of the women would usually turn their nose up at having to learn such skills, but Mura would remind them that a ninja uses every tool at their disposal including the one hiding between their legs. Also, a ninja must be able to blend into any surrounding required for there mission and nothing stuck out more than an awkward Kunoichi trying to hide herself in the upper echelons of society or as a worker in the skin trade. However, this was usually not a big issue as all ninja, men and women, develop a high degree of grace and hold themselves in a refined way by killer instinct alone.

Also, Madame Kurmochi would train some women in specific skills or point them to another expert in her field should a fellow Kunoichi need to develop a specific skill for a particular mission or mark. Wouldn't her mother be proud of her teaching other women how to sell out their bodies in the most efficient way? Although this form of education rendered itself for assassination and information-gathering to get a paycheck and work for the glory of Konoha instead of some Ryo notes on the bedside table after a session like Mura's mother.

Mura took pride in her work, as she would tell anyone whether or not he or she asked for her opinion. Thus, she took Naruto under her wings as well. While he was obviously a man, he could still apply many of the sessions to his own repertoire as a future Shinobi, as he really had no choice. Also, there was the minor fact that he could easily look like a girl. A flat-chested girl, but a girl nonetheless. It was merely a fortunate coincidence that his desire to become a ninja like his 'Mama' and 'Grandpa' aligned with the desires of the village's hierarchy.

The boy was originally and still has his moments of being a complete klutz tripping over himself and knocking into everything in his way. Also, he had the subtlety and grace of a sledgehammer and a punch to match as she recalled. _'Deceptive strength like his suspected biological mother,'_ Kurmochi mused to herself. If there was anyone that Mura would be willing to share Naruto with as a mother figure, then it would be Kushina Uzumaki. She was a fierce warrior-bitch if there ever was one.

Also, as a Jinchuriki, enemies and allies alike will have certain expectations to his actions and mood. Thus, she hammered it into his head the importance of not playing by other people's games. No one would ever expect a Jinchuriki to be a well-dressed, calm-mannered and respectful boy. Furthermore, they wouldn't expect the poisoned kunai or senbon in the back, or while the enemy would be sleeping.

Everyone has to go to sleep at some time after all.

She still fondly remembered the little speech she gave Naruto one day over this matter. In fact, she was now sitting seiza-style on a thick straw tatami mat on the other side of a practice tea ceremony. She was giving a few Kunoichis a reminder-course of traditional tea ceremony today. Instead of a bunch of woman a year or so ago, it was simply a six-and-a-half year old blonde haired shrimp of a boy, and she teaching him what she learned all by herself in this life.

"_Don't do what's right. Do what is best for you. It's the only way to get ahead in this world. Don't you want to make a better life for yourself? To wake up happy and with a smile on your face? What about your children one day if you decide to have any? Wouldn't you want them to have a better childhood than you did? Wouldn't you want to be there for them unlike your father? To teach them, to celebrate their birthdays and kiss them to sleep at night?_

"_This is why I am teaching you how to become a better Shinobi before you start at the Academy. Every action you take must be a return on investment. If you have an hour to spend, then spend it wisely to where it helps you in the future. The world does not stop, so why should you? Also, every action must work towards reducing your risk of failure. For you, this would be training and studying to perfect your skills at being a Shinobi. Everything you learn is important because not only your life will be on the line one day but that of your comrades as well. You don't want your friends to die one day because you thought yourself too good to learn something one day?_

"_A Shinobi first of all must use every weapon at their disposal. Whether or not he or wants to is meaningless. Everything you are and everything you have is a tool to be used for your success._

"_You must always recognize what you have that the enemy does not and maximize on that difference. Find what makes you unique and take it to the finish line. If you can do something that someone else can do, then what is the point?_

"_If someone is stronger, then be faster. If someone is faster, then be smarter. If someone is smarter, then be stronger._

"_And always remember, predictability kills. Never become predictable. Always be changing and evolving to the situation. Be flexible. Endure like a true Shinobi, and you will be able to overcome any obstacle that stands in your way."_

"_I can't stress this enough. Never play anyone at his or her own game. Never. Ever. Play someone at his or her own game. They have the board set in their favor, so why join? Make them play your game with your rules._

"_Fuck their game. Make your own game with your own rules and then shove it down their throat. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back. Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these! Make life rue the day it decided to give Naruto Uzumaki lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the guy who is going to burn your house down- with the lemons. Invent a combustible lemon that'll burn their house down!"_

Mura finished teaching the Kunoichi the proper movements and traditions and told her students to go and practice amongst themselves. She had a lot of teakettles and cups apparently.

The door to the room opened just enough for a short blonde child to slip through and latch himself to Mura once more. She had to smile to herself at Naruto's progress. At first, she had to work to break his shyness of human contact, as he was only accustomed to pain like a Pavlov dog. Fortunately, it did not take long because the boy was subconsciously screaming for normal human contact. His heart ached for love and attention that he received so little of in the Orphanage from an old man who would show up around once a month.

Her and her employees would shower the boy in attention and love to break him of the horrible legacy of the Orphanage. Mura liked to fondly call her strategy – Smother the blonde in love.

Naruto then pulled away slightly but kept his hands around his Mama's waist revealing his unwillingness to break the contact. Once the boy found grew over his fear, he latched onto her and the sisters like a lovesick puppy.

Kurmochi was able to finally get a good look at the boy after being professionally bathed. His blonde hair was finely combed making him look like a Bishounen and pulled back into a ponytail tied at the nape of the back of his neck with golden strands framing the sides of his face. Over the past two years, the girls refused to allow the boy to cut his hair so that they could one day play with his golden mane. Currently, his hair was easily a foot long.

Mura tried to tell Naruto's sisters to stop treating him like a living doll, but she absolutely loved dressing and grooming the boy herself. Plus, she knew that Naruto loved all of the attention if his half-heated attempts to push them away were any sign to go off of.

The simple black silk ribbon that tied the child's hair back reached the small of the boy's back, and the two black strands swayed in the slight breeze from the open window. Meanwhile, he was wearing a pure white short shirt kimono with matching loose-fitting hakama pants and a blue obi that matched his eyes. To satisfy the boy's fetish for orange, he was wearing Zori sandals with orange thongs and an orange hip-length Haori jacket with sunflower prints laced in blue symbolizing pure and lofty thoughts.

The girls really outdid themselves today, but then again they had a whole week to prepare the outfit.

"Awww," Mura chirped as she began to stretch his adorable and sensitive cheeks. "Isn't Naru-chan just the prettiest?"

"Mama!" Naruto whined in embarrassment, when she let them go in a pop.

"Now here are the request orders," Kurmochi said in a light tone, as she handed them the papers. "Now go conquer the world with your adorableness and puppy-eye looks."

"But Mama!" Naruto continued to whine. "I want to be a big strong manly hero like in the shows!"

"Bah," Mura rejected with a wave of her hand in front of her nose, as if the thought had a putrid smell attached to it. "Stop watching that trash and listen to Mama. I'll show you how to truly rule this world, and it isn't through machismo. It requires subtlety. Plus, you're the one who wants to be a Shinobi."

The blonde deflated at her admonishment but quickly perked up, "Of course, Mama! I'm going to be the best Shinobi ever!"

Mura twirled one of the child's golden strands of hair that framed his face with a delicate and thin finger in amusement, "Only if you listen to your mother though."

Naruto nodded his head furiously with stars in his impressionable eyes. _'Hook, line and sinker,'_ the Madame thought. She still enjoyed her subtle and not-so-subtle manipulations to make the boy listen to her.

"I know, Mama," Naruto said lowly, "but I miss you. I hate not being able to visit you after school."

Mura gave the boy a small smile, "I know, my child. I feel the exact same for you, but I'll always be here for you. Know that wherever you are that Mama loves you and is proud of you. Now, scram, before you ruin the mood of this fine establishment I have any more."

Naruto smiled sincerely before turning to walk out of the door before flashing Mura one of his patented wide-grin smiles.

Mura turned around to see all of her students looking at her partly in confusion and in amazement, "That my aspiring lovebirds is a lesson for another day."

* * *

Shikamaru Nara watched as his father, Shikaku, moved a pawn from E2 to E4, as the Shogi game's opening move thus accomplishing the two most important concepts of any opening move: First, to develop a piece, or facilitate the development of a piece, and second, to control the center of the board. Furthermore, Shikaku had the advantage of being the first to make a move giving him a ten percent higher change of winning. Not that it really mattered. He always lost to his father.

The young Nara heir was playing Shogi with his father on the porch of clan head's house that overlooked the family's renowned deer grounds, as the sun began to set. He had just finished his shower after handling his chores helping the family with the deer and was planning on just cloud watching.

Shikamaru responded by moving his pawn from E7 to E5 mirroring his father.

Shikamaru was perfectly content with simply watching the clouds pass by until the moon finally replaced the sun in the sky. The clouds and the sky were always more interesting when the sun was rising or falling. His father, however, got out of work early today as the Jonin Commander and demanded attention in a very passive way.

The older Nara brought his knight forward into attack position against his son's pawn by moving it from G1 to F3 to force a reaction and maintain the initiative.

The Jonin Commander position made Shikaku the representative of the regular Shinobi forces that also came with a seat on the Shinobi council to go along with his seat on the Clan council. Thus, his father was not only the head of the Nara clan, but also the highest-ranking normal Shinobi in the village. Of course, such responsibility also came with a tremendous amount of work that the laid-back veteran Shinobi abhorred.

In response, Shikamaru moved his pawn from F7 to F6 in a conservative move.

Every now and then when he wasn't completely swamped with work, he would insist on playing a game of Shogi with his only son claiming it as his right as a father. Shikamaru found the whole thing troublesome but could not begrudge his father from evading his mother's wrath in the form of a frying pan for one reason or another. Granted, Shikamaru wouldn't mind if his father would stop drinking saké every time they played Shogi, but he blamed it on some sort of counterproductive coping mechanism.

Shikaku followed his son's move by taking the bait and capturing the pawn with his knight from F3 to E5.

His father had two glaring reminders of his service to Konoha during the Third Shinobi World War with two large and deep scars running down the right side of his face. Like father, like son, he had his dark hair tied up into a spiky ponytail. When not on duty at home, Shikaku wore a simple, light-colored kimono and a haori with the clan's symbol emblazoned on the back. While on duty, he wore a meshed shirt underneath his green flak jacket and matching Shinobi pants with accompanying handguards. He also wore a deerskin coat over his flak jacket signifying his Nara heritage.

Shikamaru captured his father's knight with his conservative pawn from F6 to E5.

The Nara clan head moved his queen from D1 to H5 making the game's first check. There are only three legal ways to respond to a check: 1, capture the piece giving check; 2, interpose a piece between the king and the piece giving check; or 3, move the king out of check. Of the options available to Shikamaru, he could only perform the second or the third, as he did not have a piece to capture the queen.

They really didn't have much to talk about because his father couldn't talk about his work without risking revealing secrets to potential spies, not that Shikamaru would understand any of the people his father would probably be talking about if he did chose to talk about his work. Also, he had already told his father about everything that occurred while at school including the enigma of Naruto Uzumaki.

Shikamaru moved his king out of his father's queen's path from E8 to E7.

When he asked his father about the boy, Shikaku answer was equally vague as it was obscure. Shikamaru had heard everything that the other parents were saying about the blonde, and he noticed the kid's reaction to the boy in the schoolyard. Although he himself had to take a few steps back when the boy started to grow fangs and claws. When he specifically asked his father about that observation and why his father never told him any of those things, Shikaku did not order his son to stay away from Naruto Uzumaki. He instead encouraged Shikamaru to do what he thought was best. Shikamaru always knew his family wasn't normal.

Shikaku captured his son's pawn that previously captured his knight with his queen from H5 to E5. Thus, checking Shikamaru once more.

His father asked him if anyone came by the compound, while he was away to which Shikamaru answered in the negative. Then, Shikamaru saw a speck of gold appear behind his father's back that was accompanied by a fellow clansmen walking towards their location. _'Of course,'_ Shikamaru thought in annoyance. _'He has to show up now, and I just wanted a calm day.'_

The aspiring-Shinobi was forced to move his king to the side from E7 to F7, as he had no pieces to capture the queen or interpose her path.

The fellow clansman by the name of Yutaka if Shikamaru remembered correctly cleared his throat gaining his father's attention who turned around to see Yutaka standing side by side with the one-and-only Naruto Uzumaki, "Sorry for interrupting, Shikaku-sama, but this boy has a request order from Mura Kurmochi."

The veteran Shinobi moved his bishop from F1 to C4 to keep the pressure on his opponent once more forcing a check, "That'll be enough Yutaka-san. Thank you."

Yutaka Nara gave a respectable bow and turned around giving one last suspicious look at the blonde who responded with a gentle smile. Shikamaru looked the boy over noticing his new outfit and finding it all a little over the top and troublesome for someone in their age group.

Shikamaru defended his king by moving a pawn from D6 to D5. Admittedly, the pawn was a dead duck, as the queen, the bishop or the pawn could capture it.

"How may I be of assistance, Uzumaki-san?" his father asked despite just hearing the reason from a clansman of Chunin rank.

Shikaku chose to take the sacrificial pawn with his bishop from C4 to D5 once more forcing a check.

The blonde walked up to the porch and up the steps in a slow but purposeful gait only to stop and bow at the top towards Shikaku holding out an envelope that Shikamaru guessed was the request order, "It is an honor to meet you, Nara-sama. I humbly come to bring a request order from Mura Kurmochi."

The Academy student looked at his options to break the check. He could capture the bishop with his queen, but that would sacrifice his most powerful piece because his father could capture it the next turn with a pawn or his own queen. He chose instead to simply move his king out of the way from F7 to G6. His situation was becoming direr, as his king was being gradually forced away from the safety of the center and back of the board.

Shikamaru had to raise an eyebrow at Naruto's traditional and respectable introduction. The boy had little to no respect for their sensei or any authority figure other than his mother or the Hokage, yet here he was bowing before his father even a little below the required amount. His father simply took a swig of saké and took the letter in one fluid motion, "At ease Uzumaki-san. If my son is to be believed, the both of you are in the same class at the Academy. It's nice to see that my boy is making friends outside of his normal social circle."

The renowned veteran of the Third Shinobi World War moved a pawn from H2 to H4, and his wet-behind-the-ears son mirrored his movement by placing his pawn from H7 to H5.

Naruto straightened his back out and with the same gentle smile replied, "I assure you that the pleasure is all mine, Nara-sama, to be merely an acquaintance of the heir of the Nara clan is an honor." Shikamaru's father merely looked blankly up from the letter clearly unimpressed for an instance before going back to reading the letter.

Shikaku once more diverts his attention to the board by capturing a pawn with his bishop from D5 to B7, and Shikamaru answered by capturing the errant bishop with his own from C8 to B7.

"I see," Shikaku announced closing the letter and tucking it inside his haori. "Tell Kurmochi-san that the Nara clan will be able to fulfill the order next Friday. Now, I have a question for you. Do you know how to play Shogi?"

This, however, allowed Shikaku to move his queen to the side from E5 to F5 checking Shikamaru's king once more.

Naruto glanced once over to the board before returning eye contact, "I'm afraid not, Nara-sama, but old-man. Err, I mean Tenshin-sama has expressed interest in teaching me how to play it later this week." This is the first time Shikamaru has ever heard of anyone with the family name of Tenshin, but then again he never really made an effort to get to know people other than his best friend Choji.

Now that he moved his bishop to take his father's in the previous turn, Shikamaru only had one choice. He moved his king from G6 to H6 because he could not capture the queen diagonally because she had a pawn to back her up and capture the king.

"Hmmm," Shikaku said with concealed interest. "And who would this Tenshin-sama be?"

Shikaku kept up the offensive by opening up his other bishop to check his king by moving a pawn from D2 to D4.

Naruto bowed a little, "My apologies. Kagemura Tenshin-sama is the head monk at the Fire Temple here in Konoha. In fact, he founded the temple himself after retiring as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes getting tired of the blonde's newly discovered meek attitude and defended his king by interposing a pawn from G7 to G5.

"Of course, I remember hearing about the Fire Temple a few years back although I have never had the privilege of touring it," Shikaku announced with no pity in his voice. "And how did you come to get to know Kagemura-san?"

His father goes in for the kill by moving his queen from F5 to F7 that Shikamaru could not capture in one move.

"It's an interesting story actually," Naruto admitted with the first reflection of true emotion in his voice. "Tenshin-sama and Hokage-sama are good friends. I assume it is in part because of them being the same age. And, well, one day Hokage-sama brought me to the Temple when we were touring Konoha as we do every now and then. From there, I suppose we just hit it off."

Apparently, the Hokage didn't just walk Naruto to the Academy for the first day and get him when things started to get weird in the schoolyard, but he was actually the boy's pseudo-grandfather. While the story made sense to Shikamaru, it was complete bullshit and garnered a side look from his father who knew it. _'Odd,'_ Shikamaru thought after noticing his father's reaction. _'What is that about?'_

Nonetheless, the cloud-watcher moved his own queen for the first time from D8 to E7.

"That's good to hear. You'll have to send Kagemura-san my regards the next time you see him. I hear the Fire Temple has the best Zen garden in all of Konoha," Shikaku continued. "Once you learn how to play Shogi, you should play a few rounds with Shikamaru here. He could use a new opponent, as I keep beating him all the time."

The Jonin Commander moved his pawn from H4 to G5 capturing Shikamaru's defensive pawn giving him the pawn-count advantage and forcing a check.

Shikamaru watched as Naruto's gentle smile started to falter briefly at the mention of the temple into a genuine smile, until Naruto developed a small frown at the tail end of the conversation. Apparently, his classmate took offense to the idea that he was going to lose to Shikamaru. It didn't take any stretch of the imagination to see how the blonde misconstrued his father's statement as a knock against the boy's own abilities or lack of in regards to his clanless heritage especially with the boy's dislike for clans in general. In reality, his father was referencing how Shikamaru had more experience than Naruto, and Nara clansmen were renowned for their intelligence especially at strategy-related games.

The Academy student was forced to capture the pawn by moving his queen from E7 to G5.

Naruto plastered on an even-faker smile and replied in a slightly forced polite voice, "It would be an honor although I am afraid I wouldn't be able to pose much of a challenge to a Nara clansmen much less the clan heir himself."

Shikaku forced checkmate by moving his rock from H1 to H5 capturing a pawn. The rook checks the king and can only be captured by said-king. However, if Shikamaru were to do so, then the king would be checked by his father's queen. Furthermore, the aspiring Shinobi could not move the king out of danger without being checked by a pawn or a bishop.

Shikaku stood up and waved off Naruto's fake worry, "Nonsense. Everyone brings his or her own unique style to the game of Shogi, and you will be no different. Shikamaru needs to become accustomed to playing against opponents other than Nara clansmen if he is ever to become a truly successful Shinobi."

Naruto nodded his head in affirmation and tilted his head with a wry expression, "You flatter me, Nara-sama. Nonetheless, it would be my privilege to play Shogi against Shikamaru. After all, isn't that what friends are for? To help each other out?"

"Indeed they are," Shikaku acknowledged. "It's good to see the Will of Fire burning in the youth of today."

Naruto's wry expression turned into a full smirk, "Yes. The Will of Fire indeed. Just as Hokage-sama has told me about. After all, isn't this village just one big family that seek to help each other to grow stronger as a whole?"

Shikamaru felt slightly wary at that statement. He remembered his father giving a lecture to him about the Will of Fire a year or two before now. If his memory served, Naruto's summarization of the Will of Fire was a gross simplification which was even odder considering that the Hokage taught Naruto the Will of Fire himself.

His father merely went with the boy's statement, "Indeed it is, young Naruto. I have to go inside now before I get into any more trouble with Yoshino. Why don't you stay a little and hang out with Shikamaru? I'm sure he could use someone to watch clouds with."

Naruto's carefully constructed façade collapsed in disbelief, "Watch? Clouds?"

Shikaku chuckled at that and opened the sliding door only to offer one last piece of advice before disappearing into the house, "Have fun boys."

Shikamaru slowly looked up to Naruto who was just finishing staring at the sliding door with a confused look on his face. When the blonde wasn't playing, his face was an open book in determining his emotions. The Nara heir supposed that was a sign that the blonde trusted Shikamaru and could be himself around him. Shikamaru even felt a little flattered that Naruto trusted him more than his father that everyone was trying to reach.

"So," Naruto began by shuffling his feet around for a moment awkwardly before making eye contact. "What's up?"

Shikamaru shook his head in disapproval and patted the floor next to him that wasn't occupied by a Shogi board. The boy could carry on a conversation with one of the most well respected Shinobi in the village, but he couldn't act naturally around kids his own age and gender.

"Nothing much just planning on relaxing before I have to go eat supper, you?" one Academy student asked the other.

Naruto sat next to him in seiza style and responded, "I just have to turn in another request order, and I'm home free from chores. Mama had me already do my homework on the Uchiha and Senju alliance that resulted in the founding of Konoha. It's actually a little interesting I'll have to admit. To think that two of the strongest clans in the known world would found a village together after spending generations killing each other."

Shikamaru nodded his head and hummed, "Yeah, that is surprising, but I suppose you could say about a lot of things that happened in the past." He had done the absolute bear minimum required on the homework. The bear minimum to please his mother before she had to attack the next male Nara that needed to meet one of her frying pans.

The Nara heir noticed the blonde's prim and proper seating style that was clearly uncomfortable and pointed out, "You need to learn how to relax. Look, follow what I am doing." Shikamaru scouted back against the wall of the clan head's house allowing him to lean against it while watching the sun descend in the west painting a beautiful landscape.

Naruto nodded his head once and stood up to walk towards the side of the wall and sat down leaning against it. He brought one knee up to his chest to rest his chin on and kept one leg stretched out, "I suppose Mama's lessons have become ingrained in me."

"That's quite the vocabulary you have there," Shikamaru pointed out.

Naruto kept looking at the sky with a smile, "I always try to incorporate new words that I learn reading or hearing into my own vocabulary. Makes people think you actually know what you are talking about."

"Good point," Shikamaru acquiesced. "Know you make it sound like you never know what you are talking about."

Naruto chuckled and looked over to Shikamaru once before returning to gazing at the violet sky, "Whether I know what I am talking about is irrelevant. All that matters is the perception of what I am saying. What do people perceive from what I say?"

"I suppose that's true," the clan heir admitted, "but what if someone sees through it?"

"Then, he or she can do as they please with their opinion," Naruto retorted. "In the end, it is pointless because it is more difficult to dissuade people. You see. People are stupid. You can never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. They believe the first thing they hear. I just have to make sure I'm first, or I have lost. Rumors are a terrible thing after all."

Shikamaru had to take time to analyze that loaded statement. He didn't really care whether or not the blonde was right because the blonde was utterly convinced in himself. One could hear it in the tone of his voice, but what were more important were the implications it had. The Nara heir wasn't ashamed that he loved solving puzzles, and Naruto Uzumaki was the biggest one he had ever seen.

Apparently, whether Naruto knows it or not, the blonde has linked that philosophy with everyone's seemingly unfounded dislike and in some cases hatred for him. Naruto also blamed being the victim of the village' mistrust and hatred on rumormongering. Instead of going on the defense and attempting to prove everyone wrong, he changed the table and went on the offensive. In other words, he isn't enlightening people to their ignorance or how they were wrong, but instead taking advantage of their stupidity and using it for his own devices.

In conclusion, Shikamaru summarized it with, "I see."

The blonde who was currently reflecting the now pink tone of the sky in his hair, tan skin and blue eyes smiled in response feeling as if someone else understood him. Shikamaru understood, but probably more than Naruto wanted.


	8. Dinner for Ten

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I do not.

AN: My first fanfiction ever written. First time publishing to this site. Thank you for your patience. All reviews welcomed.

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**Adapt or Die**

_By: Adoredra Fal'Naelra_

**Chapter 8 – Dinner for Ten**

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Choji Akimichi was walking back from the Yamanaka clan compound which was really just a normal street block filled with houses with a flower shop on the corner. He officially went to go remind the Yamanaka main family of their celebration dinner for the next generation's first week at the Academy. Unofficially, it was to make sure Ino didn't try to convince her parents not to let her go because she didn't like her social circle. She believed and loudly proclaimed that Shikamaru was too lazy and Choji was too easy-going.

Apparently, Inoichi was still at the Intelligence Division because of a small upswing in some crimes the past week, but he would still be attending. He would just be visiting Ino and his wife at the Akimichi clan compound rather than making everyone show up late. Now, Choji needed to go officially remind the Nara clan about their dinner commitments. His father joked that Shikaku and Shikamaru probably forgot about it and warned Choji to not get in Yoshino's way. Choji didn't quite understand that last part because Yoshino was always a nice woman whenever he saw her despite Shikamaru's mumblings on the contraire.

Choji arrived at the Nara clan grounds on the edge of the village when the sun's last rays turned the few clouds in the sky pink. The Nara clan grounds were the largest as a consequence of their deer fields and a concession by the First Hokage to have the Nara clan join Konoha during its founding. The second largest were the Inuzuka clan's territory for their companion dogs. From there, the four Noble Clans of Akimichi, Aburame, Uchiha and Hyuuga had all around the same amount of territory for their respective clan activities. Granted, that was excluding the giant stretch of forest that only the Aburame visited due to the strange evolutions created from being laden in natural chakra.

Choji noticed Yutaka Nara standing by the clan gate and waved at him, "Hi Yutaka-san, I'm just here to remind Shikamaru and the family about our dinner."

"Of course, young Choji," Yutaka drawled out like a typical Nara. "Please follow me to the clan head's house."

Choji knew Yutaka as the eternal Nara clan ground's guard. One time, Choji asked the Chuunin why he was always at the gate and only received a shrug of the shoulders like a true Nara. Apparently, there were stereotypes for a reason.

After a few minutes walking on the gravel pathway, they approached the clan head's house which was really just a hunting lodge in traditional style that was larger than all of the previous buildings. Trees shadowed nearly every part of the Nara clan's grounds except for a few small patches, and if Choji looked into the distance he could see deer calmly walking through the woods. The shadow effects always fascinated Choji and were made even more magical by the falling sun.

At the steps, Choji broke away from his escort and climbed up the steps to meet his best friend that was lazing against the wall. He was halfway up until he noticed Naruto, his fellow lunch-mate from school, who was dressed in surprisingly regal looking clothes.

"Hi Shikamaru, Naruto," Choji said at the top of the steps looking down on them reclining against the wall of the house.

"Choji," Shikamaru nodded once and patted the seat next to him.

"Good to see you again Choji," Naruto said with a small polite smile.

Choji honestly still did not know what to think of his blonde classmate after everything he saw him do and saw what happened to him, so Choji just ignored all of it. They broke bread together on the first day on the schoolyard with Shino Aburame, and breaking bread is a sacred tradition of the Akimichi clan. As the clan heir, Choji simply could not just ignore such a tradition for it would be nothing less than sacrilege. Thus, Naruto was good in his book for all he cared.

Choji slid down by Shikamaru thus flanking the Nara with the blonde on the other side, "I came to remind you about our dinner tonight. Ino and her mom are still getting ready, and her dad is going to meet them at the house from work. Said he was busy with some extra work carrying over from the weekend."

Shikamaru tilted his head back up to the rapidly passing clouds, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I better go warn my dad before-"

Before Shikamaru could finish his statement, his father opened the sliding door to the house, "Hey Shika, don't forget about our dinner plans with the Akimichis."

Shikamaru's mother's voice could be clearly heard berating her husband, "Oh shut it Shikaku. I just reminded you. I swear you Nara men wouldn't be able to find yourselves out of a paper bag over your head if it wasn't for me."

Yoshino pushed the sliding door all the way down and walked out on to the porch, while her husband continued to stand in the doorframe, "What are you wearing Shika?"

She didn't wait for her son to give a response before looking him over and ordered, "Go to your room and put on that Haori that I ironed for you today, and I better not see any wrinkles on it."

Shikamaru stood up and mumbled, "Troublesome," before following his mother's orders.

Choji and Naruto slowly stood up along with Shikamaru in a delayed fashion and stood where they were previously sitting. Choji thought of Yoshino as a strict and overbearing woman especially compared to his own mother, but he noticed that she could also be very warm and gentle at times.

"Good to see you again Choji," Yoshino said. "And who is this? Shikaku, why didn't you tell me that we had guests over? I would have invited him inside and offered tea. Now your just making me look bad."

Shikaku coughed into his hand and tilted his head to the side indicating that his diligent wife had already forgotten about the point of the conversation.

Yoshino flushed a little and bowed slightly, "Sorry about that. He's making me look bad all on my own know. I'm Yoshino Nara. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Choji couldn't help but sense that Yoshino already knew about Naruto like all of the adults seemed to do, but he never understood why.

Naruto bowed respectfully and a little lower than Choji thought necessary, "My names Naruto Uzumaki, and the pleasure is all mine Yoshino-sama."

"Oh my," Yoshino said to herself in amazement and laughed softly. "I finally meet a male with respect. Someone pinch me; I must be dreaming."

"I'm sure my mother will be pleased to here that," Naruto said politely.

"And respect for his own mother. Miracles do exist. He's even making me feel underdressed," Yoshino said while looking him over.

Choji would have to agree on that account. Yoshino had long brown hair kept in a low ponytail with three strands framing her face. Currently, she was wearing a pink blouse and dark-colored skirt.

"It was not my intention to make you feel uncomfortable Yoshino-sama, but you don't have to worry I'm not attending your dinner," Naruto said with a slight chuckle at the woman's distress. "Although I would be honored if I could accompany you to the Akimichi household, I need to deliver a request order to Choza-sama."

"You flatterer, you," Yoshino scolded with no sincerity. "Please call me Yoshino or Yoshino-san if you must, and of course you could tag along. No point walking separately if we are going to the same place."

Naruto bowed once more, "Thank you very much Yoshino-san."

"You make mothers across the Elemental Nations proud," Yoshino said wiping away a fake tear while Shikaku rolled his eyes. Shikamaru strolled out of the house with his Haori on with the Nara symbol stitched into the back. "Why can't you be more like Naruto-kun here and show more respect."

"I do everything you tell me already," Shikamaru replied. "What more can one man do?"

Choji noticed the side look that Shikamaru gave Naruto who was wearing a devious smirk before quickly adopting an innocent look and said, "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble. I guess I'll just walk there now. Have a nice dinner."

Yoshino quickly turned back to the blonde who was making a slow effort towards walking away, "Nonsense little one. You're walking with us right now. I'll be damned before I let that prissy Yamanaka show up before I do. I'll show her a real housewife."

With that last statement of petty clan rivalry even among the famous Ino-Shika-Cho combo, Yoshino led the way towards the Akimichi clan house. Shikamaru glared at Naruto briefly before walking with his head to the sky and his hands behind his neck, "Why'd you have to give my mom more of a reason to be troublesome?"

Naruto snickered hiding his smile behind one of his large white kimono sleeves, "Because if my sisters make me wear all of this nonsense then I'm going to make the most out of it. And if I get my jollies from watching your mom yell at you, then so be it."

"You didn't see me make you look bad in front of your mom," Shikamaru retorted with a devious smirk of his own.

Naruto cheeks reddened a little but smarted back, "I do that all on my own. Thank you very much."

"I can tell," the Nara heir continued. Choji just walked with them and overheard the conversation. He would have been eating some chips, but his mother wouldn't let him eat too soon before she served dinner. Something about all of her hard work going into the trash because of a bag of air. Choji didn't really understand what the big deal was. He was going to eat everything served to him whether or not if he could. It was a matter of Akimichi pride.

"So, Choji," Naruto said forcing Choji into the conversation. "What's up?"

Shikamaru palmed himself in the face, "You really need to work on your conversation starters. Who says that?"

Naruto tilted his head to the side and innocently pointed a finger to himself, "I do."

Shikamaru sighed exaggeratedly, "I noticed. Thank you –"

"Anytime," Naruto interrupted with a smile.

"-but couldn't you think of something else to say?" the deer boy finished.

Naruto looked to the side and down and mumbled, "I don't really know what to say."

Choji decided to say something for the first time with a large smile, "That's what we are here for."

"Oh," Naruto said with a small smile tugging at the sides of his lips. "Thanks. I guess."

"What have you been up to, Choji, or how's your weekend so far Choji are perfectly good examples of starting a conversation," Shikamaru stated.

Naruto frowned in confusion, "That is exactly what I just said just in a shorter way. I don't see the difference."

"It's too lame, and you say it too awkwardly," Shikamaru pointed out. "Also, it feels really weird when someone dressed for a Noble's court says it."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Well, sorry, that it doesn't 'fit me'. You know what they say, 'Looks can be deceiving'."

"And why do I get the feeling that's what your mother told you," the Nara clan heir observed.

"Because I've clearly been spending too much time with you, if you already know me so well," Naruto joked with a grin.

Choji noticed something, "Strange. I haven't seen any deer yet walking to the house I saw a small herd."

Shikamaru nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah, they should be a lot more active considering how it is their time of day to be out too."

Choji saw in the corner of his eyes that Naruto fidgeted a little, "Something wrong, Naruto?"

"Oh, no, it's just that animals for some reason don't really like me all that much," Naruto announced softly and quickly stole everyone's attention for however so briefly. "Which is ironic because Mama is always complaining when I go into what she calls my woodland creature mode."

Choji had to ask, "Woodland creature mode?"

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head underneath the hair tie, "Apparently, I like to walk into the courtyard at Mama's work, go under a tree, stretch out, curl into a ball and fall asleep. She also said it had something to do with me having a habit of chasing after butterflies and climbing up trees in the courtyard as well. Calls me her pet fox sometimes which I am still debating whether or not I like that. Who wants to be another person's pet, but at the same time it is nice to feel like someone cares about you."

Choji could understand what his mother meant in the beginning of the sentence because that distinctly reminded him of the fat cats at the clan house. While Choji could understand a fascination with butterflies because he had one as well, he agreed with Naruto. He didn't really know what to feel about the whole pet fetish thing, and he really did not know what to say about that last part dealing with his existence. That was all a little too deep for Choji although he did feel that way initially when no one wanted him to join in their games until he met Shikamaru after saving that butterfly from the spider's web.

Choji knew he was not the best at deciphering hidden messages or deeper meanings, so he immediately looked at the other's reactions. Yoshino looked worried in a motherly way before picking up the pace slightly, and Shikaku's face was expressionless except for the slight narrowing of the eyes in thought.

Shikamaru, however, looked deeply confused as if the whole thing created more questions than it answered. Naruto continued heedlessly, "So, woodland creature mode, you see?"

Shikaku shooked his head at that and lightly said, "Apparently, you can join Shika in cloud watching after your Shogi games even if you will mainly be sleeping."

Naruto smiled and added, "There really is nothing better than a good nap. It's how I keep so energetic all the time."

"Ugh," Shikamaru stated in somewhat fake distaste. "Who would ever want that?"

Naruto laughed the concern away with chuckles from the Nara parents.

They continued to walk towards the Akimichi household just as the sun finished its descent, and the moon was clearly visible near the horizon. Two bulky Akimichi clansmen guarded the gate to the clan grounds with two large bo staves.

Choji broke formation and walked up the duo and said with a nod to both guardsmen, "Hey Ikki, Kiyoshi."

The both gave a solemn nod and stepped to the side and opened the large iron gate doors with a push. Ikki on the left said, "The Yamanakas arrived just a few moments ago."

Choji merely nodded his head at the information, while Yoshino mumbled, "Of course she did."

Choji decided to ignore that comment along with the rest of the males.

Choji stepped to the side as well remembering what his mother told them about good host manners and waved the Nara group and Naruto inside the clans ground with a smile. The Akimichi clan heir noticed that both the guards were giving a suspicious look towards the blonde who stuck out like a green thumb amongst the dark-haired Nara family.

Once they were all through the gates that were promptly closed by Ikki and Kiyoshi, Choji walked the group up the large and wide steps of the clan's main house to the equally large and wide doors typical of Akimichi architecture. This time Choji opened one of the doors bathing himself in fire light and heat that almost made him go blind at the contrast.

The group walked into the building to be meet immediately by probably one of the largest tables that existed in the Elemental Nations. The large wooden table was famed for its ability to seat every single Akimichi that could call him or herself an adult. It was an honor that Choji was faithfully waiting for one day to fill when he graduated from the Academy and donned his own forehead protector. Dreams aside, Choji thoroughly enjoyed the gob smacked expression that Naruto was currently wearing that was typical of newcomers.

"Impressive, no?" Choji asked rhetorically.

"It's," Naruto said trying to find a word that could do his vision honor. "It's awesome. I've never seen anything like this ever. Believe it!"

Choji lectured, "This is the famous Akimichi long-table."

The large table was housed in a pointed-ceiling timber-walled room that could easily be called its own building. Each seat had a torch behind it providing adequate light and antler-horn chandeliers hanged from the ceiling providing the light. Apparently, before Choji was born, electricity did not exist, and they used candles. As a result, Akimichis had to eat their meals as fast as possible before the candle wax overflowed its barriers and started dripping all over the food. Thus, Akimichis could not only eat more than anyone else; they could do it the fastest. The Akimichis finally found something where they were faster than everyone else.

The room was modeled after the castle rooms of nobles and Daimyos that housed their retinues and guests of honors. As a result, on the opposite side of the room, the floor raised a few steps and hosted a parallel table for the clan head and elders. Choji dreamed of one day becoming the sixteenth head of the Akimichi clan and sitting at his father's 'throne'.

"We're going to eat here?" Naruto asked in a stupendous tone. "Like at that table."

The Akimichi clan heir laughed bouncing his growing pot belly up and down and waved for the group to follow him, "Oh no. We're going to be dining in a private room in the back."

"Right, of course," Naruto said never taking his eyes off the table. "How silly of me."

"Don't worry," Choji couldn't help himself. "Classic newcomer mistake."

Choji could feel Naruto's eyes bore into the back of his head, but he could feel his smirk growing at the displeasure, "What?"

The rest of the group started snickering, and Choji felt like he could finally understand why Naruto did that all of the time which Naruto summed up quickly, "Like seriously. Am I infectious or something?"

All the males, including Naruto, laughed at that comment leaving a perplexed Yoshino who mumbled, "Boys."

Choji hooked a left by the steps that led to the clan head and elder's table down another expansive hallway and past one of the entrances to the many kitchens throughout the building. The Akimichis had multiple kitchens that specialized in different types of foods for maximum efficiency. There were a lot of Akimichis and each Akimichi had the appetite of at least three normal humans, and the majority were Shinobis on top of that. Needless to say, the Akimichi chefs had their hands full breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner and needed any advantage they could take.

"Sorry I was late," Inoichi's voice rang from the nearby room to the right. "We had a busy day at T&I today."

Choji turned around and motioned towards the room like the kind host he was and saw Yoshino whisper darkly, "You got out of work early today, and we still manage to show up later."

Shikaku temporarily pinched the bridge of his nose, while Shikamaru shook his head in disapproval.

Naruto grinned mischievously and opened his mouth before Shikamaru elbowed him in the side eliciting a small gasp gaining Yoshino's confused attention.

The Nara clan heir answered the unasked question and put his arm around Naruto's slouched shoulders with a smile, "Naruto's just a little shy is all, but that's what friends are for, right?"

Naruto glanced darkly at Shikamaru for a second before looking at Yoshino and smiled sheepishly. Yoshino and Shikaku walked into the room first followed by Shikamaru and Naruto.

Choji heard Shikamaru whisper to Naruto, "Nice try. Better luck next time."

Naruto responded with an amusing harrumph and regained his composure to walk into the room confidently. Choji followed last according to protocol to see that Ino and her father and mother were already in the room along with his own father and mother. The Akimichi heir heard everyone exchange polite greetings Naruto included and didn't understand why Yoshino needed to point out that Ino's mom already found a glass of red wine in her hand. Ino's mother retorted in a refined voice that she was simply passing time waiting for her husband that was running late. Choji decided to avoid that female conversation and reaffirmed his belief that women were scary creatures best avoided.

Choji walked up to his father that was having conversation with both Inoichi and Shikaku with Naruto in tail and announced, "Pa. This is my friend Naruto Uzumaki, and he needs to give you a request order from his Ma."

Naruto followed Choji's introduction with another one of his patented bows and handed his father an envelope, "It's an honor to meet you Akimichi-sama. I humbly come bearing a request order from Mura Kurmochi for your world-renowned goods."

Choji's father slapped his large meaty hand that covered all of Naruto's shoulder shocking the blue-eyed boy into standing up straight, "No need to be so formal, my boy, it's just a request order. I bet that's Mura's work though for sure. Anyway, it's nice to meet you Naruto-kun. I'm Choza Akimichi."

Choza took his hand off of the boy's shoulder and accepted the envelope that looked puny in his hands. After ripping the top off with his pinky, Choza started to carefully read the letter nodding contemplatively.

Inoichi decided to add in a mocking tone, "Hey, I don't remember by goods being world famous."

Shikaku added, "Same here."

Naruto's bright blue eyes widened, and Choji felt pity for the blonde. He was just trying to make a good impression, yet here he was getting mockingly chastised by the famous Ino-Shika-Cho formation. Furthermore, Choji's father was without a doubt a very imposing person although Choza always considered himself a gentle giant.

Choza Akimichi was the fifteenth head of the Akimichi clan and was an appropriately tall and large man with long, red hair and purple markings on his cheeks. He was wearing a dark-colored and white-edged kimono with a black obi and linen hachimaki around his forehead. As customary for an Akimichi, he had the kanji for food emblazoned on the back in red lace.

Choji always thought of his father as a gentle and caring man with seemingly great wisdom and understanding of the world. Above all else though, Choji knew that his father deeply loved him even if he would occasionally reprimand the future clan heir.

Meanwhile, Inoichi was in his Intelligence Division black uniform with a matching long overcoat. The Yamanaka clan heir had long sandy blonde hair reaching to his back, which he wore spiky on top and ending in a long ponytail, blue-green eyes and strong facial features. The most obvious being his well-defined jaw line.

Choji looked over to his blonde-companion about to step in and say something before Naruto plastered a cool smirk on his face and said, "Yes. Well, Yamanaka-sama, Nara-sama. The both of you don't look like you could eat me in five bites. No offense."

Inoichi pouted, "So your saying that if I looked like if I could eat you, I would get more respect."

Naruto snorted gracelessly, "I'm willing to say a lot of things if it avoids being eaten."

Shikaku continued Inoichi's line of thought, "Are you saying our dear friend would eat children?"

"By no means, Nara-sama," Naruto replied calmly. "I am merely following what my mother likes to refer to as 'First Encounter Protocol'."

The three grown men started laughing together gaining everyone's attention, and Choza added, "That's Mura for ya."

Choji noticed that a bad vibe started to come from the three mothers at his father's reference to Naruto's mother. Ino's mother since Choji met her possessed a calm and collected demeanor who retained a very regal and classy appearance along with a similar matching style of vocabulary. She had light brown eyes, and brown hair which is tied into a bun with a red ribbon in it with two strands of hair framing both sides of her face that hanged over her ears from behind them. She was a fair skinned woman with slight wrinkles visible near her mouth. She was currently wearing her usual dark teal elegant dress which sported an aquamarine-colored gem below her collar.

"And how may three gentlemen like yourselves know Mura?" Ino's mother stated in her refined voice and with sharp eyes.

"Because they've worked with my mother. And still do!" Naruto chirped happily in seemingly pure innocence. Choji could feel the trio of men's attitudes quickly change from jovial to slightly weary at the feminine anger stewing a few feet away.

"I think we could all use some explaining before we sit down and have a very, let me stress, very, awkward dinner around the kids," Choji's mother side crossing her arms. Choji's mother was always a nice and very caring woman who let Choji eat whatever he pleased usually. Thus, Choji was starting to fret himself because he hadn't seen his mother like this in a very long time.

Like all Akimichi, Choji's mother was a full-bodied woman. She had short, black hair and eyes which were accentuated by orange markings at each corner. She was currently wearing a light shade of lipstick, a pair of red stud earrings along with a high collared purple blouse which had gold trimmings and the clan's obligatory kanji for food on the back. She was also wearing a pair of matching pants and black heeled sandals that were tapping the wooden floor impatiently.

Choji whispered to Shikamaru and Ino who were standing next to him, "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but I love it," Ino whispered excitedly at the tense room. Choji ignored her weird fascination with drama and looked to his best friend.

"I don't know either, but it has to deal with that troublesome blonde's mother. And judging by the shit-eating grin he is wearing, he knows exactly why," Shikamaru analyzed.

Speaking of the devil, the blonde took a few dainty steps towards the women in the room and bowed, "How rude of me. I haven't even introduced myself yet except for Yoshino-san. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. It's an honor to meet you lovely ladies."

Choji's mother ignored Yoshino's mumblings that she didn't get a lovely lady greeting and nodded her head, "It's nice to meet you too, Naruto-kun. I'm Chiharu Akimichi, Choji's mother, if you haven't guessed that already."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Uzumaki-san. I'm Noriko Yamanaka, Ino's mother as I'm sure you've deduced by now," Ino's mother said with a slight posh accent.

"I assure you the pleasure is all mine. While I'm too young to detail your husband's previous transactions with Mama, I've simply been delivering her request orders for their specialty goods," Naruto said which Choji could clearly tell did not defuse the situation. "It was nice to meet you all and have a lovely dinner."

Chiharu stopped glaring at her husband to look down on the boy who was about to walk past them and said in confusion, "What do you mean leaving? Did Choji not tell you? It's clan tradition that you join us for dinner now. One does not simply go to an Akimichi dinner and leave. Our clan honor is at stake now."

Choji forgot about that little part. He probably should have warned Naruto that walking into an Akimichi dinner involved eating an Akimichi dinner. It was a somewhat common experience for friends of Akimichis to be trapped into an Akimichi-style dinner that way and a time-honored tradition. Choji always found it funny when the victim of the prank couldn't walk normally and needed to be escorted back with a helping shoulder due to a full stomach.

Naruto shuffled his feet nervously and looked up at her from the side of his eyes, "I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience Chiharu-san."

Choji was taken back by Naruto's sudden meek voice, but Shikamaru just snorted next to him nonplussed. Choji's mother quickly responded, "Don't talk nonsense. We Akimichis always cook more just in case. We're always prepared."

"Well if you insist," Naruto said flashing her a large smile that turned somber. "I would hate to see any food go to waste, and I've never been one to turn down food. Old habits, I suppose."

The adult's faces briefly flashed with concern before Chiharu beckoned everyone to sit down. The private dinning room was a large room walled with traditional rice paper with a large round table in the middle with nine seats. Answering to Choji's father's request, the servants in the back of the room moved all of the sits a little closer and added one from some storage closet. Meanwhile, a new servant approached with the required eating ware and added a seat for Naruto.

While this was occurring, Ino whispered to Choji and Shikamaru, "Does anyone understand what is going on? Did you see their faces, and why do they seem to react to everything Naruto says weirdly?"

At the same time, Inoichi told their wives of behalf of the other two men, "You know he didn't mean it like that with Mura-san. You're just overreacting. Nothing happened. Promise."

Shikamaru snorted at the first part clearly believing that Naruto was well-aware of everything he said and probably did it on purpose and gave a non-committal grunt to Ino's concerns as Naruto was walking up to them.

"Geez, Choji, thanks for the heads up friend," Naruto said. "Now I feel like I'm interrupting three family dinners at the same time. Mama always told me not to be a home wrecker, but I kinda get the feeling she was talking about something else about that."

Shikamaru was about to defend Choji, but he could defend himself too, "Sorry about that Naruto. I forgot to mention it."

"I'm sure it will be fine," Shikamaru added as a last thought.

Choji continued with a proud smile, "It's an Akimichi dinner too. It'll probably be the best food you have ever eaten."

Naruto mumbled something about the best food is the meal after starving. Choji wanted to say that he agreed, but he got the vibe that what he was thinking wasn't the same as the blonde's intention. Naruto seemed to snap out of his thoughts and said with a gentle smile, "I'm sure it will be everything they say and more. It's a clan head and heir dinner after all. A once and a lifetime opportunity for someone like me."

Ino crossed her arms and voiced her opinion, "You need to get off that poor-little-me-horse with clans and the stuff. Just because we are from clans doesn't mean that we are that different. I mean were not like the Hyuuga, Aburame or the Uchihas – with the exception of Sasuke-kun, of course."

"Shino's a good guy," Naruto started to defend not realizing that he was defeating his own perceived argument.

"Exactly!" Ino exclaimed. "Just a little different because he comes from a clan is all. Can't control who your parents are after all."

"Got that right," Naruto mumbled darkly under his voice.

"And quit mumbling! If you got something to say, say it," Ino continued adopting her bossy persona.

Naruto got meek again, but this time seemed more natural and experienced, "Yes, ma'am."

Ino threw her hands in the air in exasperation and turned around to pick the seat next to her father, "You're impossible."

Naruto looked over to Shikamaru immediately, "What did I do wrong now?"

Shikamaru shook his head and sat down next his father leaving two seats between the two, "You have so much to learn. It's like you've lived in a closet your whole life."

Choji was heading for the chair next to Shikamaru, when he noticed that Naruto was frozen in his spot. The blonde was trembling and seemed to be sweating a little. Choji didn't know that Naruto was going through a panic attack at Shikamaru's off-the-cuff comment, but Inoichi wasn't a member of the Torture and Intelligence Division for nothing. Shikaku could also see the same signs from his relatively advanced medical knowledge that resulted from being the Nara clan head.

"Are you all right, Naruto-kun, you look a little pale," Chiharu said in obvious concern.

Choji's mother's voice broke Naruto at his nightmarish thoughts and looked around the room as if he was lost. After regaining his bearings, Naruto scratched the back of his head harshly and said in an unconvincing and high-pitched voice, "Huh? Oh, nothing. Nothing. Don't worry. I'm fine just got a little lost in my thoughts. I'm good. Believe it!"

Choji didn't even believe that statement, but let the situation drop along with everyone else and sat next to Shikamaru leaving the sit between him and Ino open. Ino leaned over to the seated blonde and began whispering something in his ear. Naruto frowned slightly but whispered back next anyway.

Choji asked Shikamaru what he thought they were saying until Ino said out loud, "Well that's not helpful."

"The moment you find out who my real parents are be sure to tell me first, since you know, there kinda like my parents," Naruto said with dripping sarcasm gaining a side glance from everyone else.

Ino continued to frown as the servers began to bring out the first course of the meal, and her father leaned over to whisper something in her ear.

Gaining the attention at everyone at the table, Choza stood up with a cup of saké that could barely be seen in his meaty hand, "Here is a toast to our great clans continued friendship, but more importantly to the next generation. May our children relight the Ino-Shika-Cho team's legacy. However, we must not forget the Shinobi around us. May the Will of Fire elucidate our dear compatriot Naruto-kun's path as it has done for our forefathers and ourselves. Hear. Hear."

Choji quickly downed his saké that he lifted in the beginning of the toast. He and his peers were of course given watered-down saké that would be served with each dish of their Kaiseki dinner. Choji didn't quite understand the big deal with Kaiseki dinners other than their traditional importance. He personally preferred to have all of the food placed on a Lazy Susan, so he could eat everything to his heart's content. Instead, a Kaiseki was a multi-course meal where each serving had its accompanying bowl of saké. They were rather rare considering their expensive nature, and the obscene amount of preparation required to cook so many different meals. A task that the Akimichi clan took head-on with pride and considered a challenge for the self-proclaimed culinary masters.

Naruto began coughing harshly after downing his saké, however, and was feverishly reaching for his bottle of water that was served to the kids. He began chugging the terracotta bottle before beginning to cough that up as well. Choji didn't understand what the big commotion was. Yes, the saké burned a little but nowhere near the level that elicited such a reaction. Choji had to lean all the way back in his seat and gasp when Naruto's blue eyes began to rove across the table in pure fear and betrayal as if he were poisoned. The idea that an Akimichi would poison their food or drink was unheard of and would permanently ruin the clan's reputation. Furthermore, Naruto was a kid his own age. The idea of someone so young dying at a family dinner unnerved Choji more than he would ever admit.

Choji's mother and father quickly stood up with their seats shouting orders for water and demanding to know who served Naruto. Inoichi, the Jonin closest to Naruto, stood up from his seat and started a medical examination by looking into his eyes and feeling his forehead. Shikaku who Choji didn't notice move grabbed the boy's saké bottle and smelled it before matching Inoichi's frown with his own.

"If you can talk, then tell us what you are feeling," Inoichi demanded in concern.

"My throat. My throat burns is all," Naruto coughed out before drinking the water being given to him by Chiharu. After finishing the bottle, Naruto continued, "And my body feels all warm. Well, except for my head, that feels lighter. Other than that, I feel fine."

Choza gave the bottle that Naruto drank that Choji assumed was poisoned to the server who drank part of it. It was a tradition that was rarely needed but if a server were to give poisoned food or drink; he would be forced to drink or eat it as well. The server frowned and said, "It tastes just like saké to me. Strong saké, but saké nonetheless."

Choza frowned in thought before grabbing the bottle himself and drinking a little, "He's right, but it should have been watered down."

At that statement, everyone audibly and visibly relieved their tension especially Naruto. Everyone returned to their seats, and Yoshino and a frightened Noriko sat back down in their seats that they never left.

"Have the new server give the boy only water for the rest of the meal," Choza castigated and implying that Naruto's current server would not be working for the rest of the night.

"You gave us all a heart attack!" Ino shouted right next to Naruto whose cheeks were slightly pink.

After a small hiccup, Naruto looked at his hands, "Sorry. I didn't mean to be any trouble."

"Nonsense. This is not your fault at all," Noriko said primly. "Ino, don't talk so crassly. I reared you better than that."

"Sorry, mommy," Ino said after deflating. "Just worried was all."

Choji had to do another take when Naruto started giggling loudly after another hiccup, "So that's what real saké is like. Hehehe. I've never had any before."

"Great. Now we've turned an eight year old drunk," Yoshino said with a faint smile. "If he turns into a drinker, then I blame Shikaku. My reputation as a perfect mother is ruined now. "

Shikaku and Shikamaru snorted at that last statement each earning their own glare.

Chiharu harrumphed, "Says you, Yoshino. I thought I had an eight-year, the same age as our children may I remind you, die at our dinner."

After a desperate hand signal from Choza, the servers rushed into the room with the first meal and its respective saké cup. Choji felt like the chaos around him was too much and decided to focus on the meal. The first meal Choji discovered was a shiizakana which involved an assortment of various appetizers. Choji was about to warn Naruto to stop because he was breaking tradition as he snapped his chopsticks gaining everyone's attention.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto shouted in glee as he snapped the chopsticks apart and opened one of the wooden containers.

Before he picked any of the appetizers with his chopsticks, he noticed everyone was looking at him weirdly, "What? Something wrong?"

Shikamaru groaned, "Just follow what Choza does next time. He is the host after all."

"Huh," Naruto asked without a clue and a little more slouched than normal before snapping to attention. "Oh right, of course. Yeah. After you, Choza-sama."

"Choza or Choza-san is good enough Naruto-kun," Choza said with a chuckle and receiving a nod from the blonde before snapping his chopsticks. "Itadakimasu!"

At that, everyone repeated the expression that honored everyone who played a role in preparing the food from the farmers, ranchers and fishermen to the chefs and servers, and then they snapped their chopsticks. Choji began to eat his meal slowly like everyone else including Naruto that was obviously staring at every little action that Choza made and copying it. One of the first lessons Choji learned was that eating food was meant to be done slowly in order to savor every last bite and to further honor the food-preparers.

Noriko politely observed after swallowing her food, "This is wonderful as always, Choza and Chiharu."

Everyone quickly agreed and gave their thanks, and Naruto adding that this food was awesome.

"Much appreciated everyone. It's good to hear all of you like the food," Choza said with a proud smile.

"Since this meal is honor of your first week at the Academy to become Shinobi, why don't you all talk about how your first week went," Yoshino asked. "I tried asking Shika, but all he made me want to do was become a dentist. Pulling teeth would be easier."

"Shikamaru didn't tell you anything?" Ino said in her high-pitch voice. "It was crazy!"

"Ino!" Noriko chastised.

Ino toned her voice down a little and continued, "And, honestly, it all had to do with the blonde here."

Naruto looked up from his plate towards Ino with his chopsticks still in his mouth. After pulling them out, he asked what she meant.

"What do you mean, 'What'?" Ino said trying to emulate Naruto's confused voice. "You already got in trouble with the teacher and beat up some bully. No one else did that. And. And the Hokage showed up because he was nearby. It was unreal."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "I don't understand what the big deal is. I just didn't think it was fair that Saji-sensei allowed the Inuzuka boy to get away with not doing his homework is all. And the bully defamed my sister's name, so I had to defend her honor. She prefers the term Geisha-without-powder. What sort of brother would I be if I didn't act accordingly? I take my bonds very seriously and would never break them no matter the cost, so beating up a little punk who couldn't back up his run-away mouth doesn't bother me in the least."

"That's rather noble of you actually, Naruto-kun," Yoshino offered. She knew that if someone agreed with Ino, then the boy would shut like a clam and not talk anymore. While she might not be as much of an incorrigible gossip like the Yamanaka women and probably men, she still wanted to know what happened during her son's first week of school.

Naruto once more shrugged his shoulders, "I would have done everything that I did if it wasn't noble anyway."

"That's even better," Chiharu noted. "To act according to one's own beliefs despite what people may think of you."

Naruto lifted his face a little bit after finishing his shiizakana meal, and Choji could note that Naruto's cheeks were a little bit pinker than last time. The saké was probably just now truly entering the young boy's system.

"I honestly couldn't care less what anyone other than Mama and the sisters think of me. Well, other than Grandpa and old man Kagemura," Naruto drawled.

Choji noticed his father frown and look at the terracotta bottle that Naruto had at his table placement but dismissed the idea that there was still pure saké in the bottle. Choza lifted his hand once more and replied, "It's important to keep those who consider the most important closest to your heart, but I find it hard to believe you don't care about other people think about you. No one actually believes that despite what some people say."

Naruto looked nonplussed by that statement and simply stated, "I know how to play the game."

A wave of servers entered the room taking away all of the dishes and replenishing the drinks followed by another wave of servers with the next course. Choji began eating the platter of mukouzuke after her father started. The mukouzuke was one of Choji's favorite of the Kaiseki meals, as it involved an actual meal of sashimi or thin slices of raw fish meat.

After everyone tasted a few slices, Inoichi looked to improve the mood of the dinner, "How have your plans come along for your garden, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up and immediately responded with enthusiasm, "I'm afraid I haven't had too much time to work on them, but I've drawn up my vision for the balcony. I've been running chores for Mama and spending time with the sisters. Believe it! Currently, I've been taking measurements of the balcony to see how much of what I need. Also, I'm going to visit the Fire Temple on Monday afterschool for inspiration."

Naruto stopped talking directly to Inoichi and addressed the table, "I know that Ino and Inoichi have heard of my plans, but I'm planning on surrounding the sides of my apartment balcony with shrubbery and having vines drop down a little. In the middle, I'll have an awesome fountain because I love fountains, and by the doorway, I'll have trellises for passionflower vines to attract butterflies. Of course, I'll also have some tea plants along with the usual herbs like mint and basil. It'll be totally awesome. Believe it!"

"An aspiring green-thumb, I see," Noriko said softly. "It's wonderful to see someone so young so passionate for gardening."

"At first I didn't think twice about greenery, until Grandpa gave me a Bonsai tree to take care of as a first-day-of-the-Academy gift," Naruto informed. "Now I love it. Funny how something so small can have such a big change, and people mock me for my height."

Choji didn't really care much for gardening despite his love for food, but true to his last name he did enjoy watching the metamorphosis process of caterpillars to butterflies. He also had to agree that Naruto was a little short for his age group which probably made people think he couldn't defend himself like the bully at the schoolyard.

Another wave of servers followed with the kuchiton which was just a small side dish.

"What other errands have you been running Naruto?" Ino asked curiously.

"Well," Naruto said pulling out his hand and counting his fingers. "There was the request order for the Yamanakas, the Naras, the Akimichis, oh and the Tamahagane Shop. That place is totally cool. It's literally a building filled with the coolest weapons you have ever seen and armor to boot. Believe it!"

"So, like an armory," Shikamaru added with a small amount of sass.

Naruto responded by sticking his pink tongue out but continued anyway, "As I was saying, it was awesome. I would never think there would so many different types of weapons in the world. I can't even remember all of the names. I even got a practice bo staff, so I can be like Grandpa in the stories and old-man Kagemura at the temple."

Shikaku didn't look any more or less affected, but asked anyway, "Any other chores you need to run?"

"Just one more," Naruto said in glee. "I need to give the Aburame clan a request order. My guess is that it is for more of their silk. I don't know if you have had the opportunity to but wearing their silk is the best. In fact my school kimono is made from their chakra silk. I didn't know this, but the threads open slightly when it is hot and close when it is cold. How awesome is that? It breathes when it is hot outside and insulates when it is cool. Also, it's weightless, so like I said it feels like your wearing nothing at all. Mama says it allows me to fulfill my nudist desires without being nude."

A wave of servers cleared the kuchiton and brought out the suimono which was a simple miso soup.

"How enlightening," Ino said nonplussed as she drank from the soup after Choza did. Choji could tell that Naruto was beginning to loosen up. Initially, the blonde would be uncomfortable around other people, but then he would get to a point where he would talk about anything and everything that popped up in his head.

"Has anyone told any of you all that your family names are funny," Naruto announced without any prompting after finishing his soup in one go. "I mean the only name that makes sense is the Nara, but if anything the Yamanaka and Akimichi should be changed. Don't take this the wrong way, but if anyone would be from the mountains it would be the Akimichis. You Yamanakas on the other hand could easily be butterflies especially with your penchant for greenery and flowers. Also, the whole Ino-boar obsession with the names is a little off. If anything Choza and Choji should be named Inoichi and Ino."

Inoichi smiled in contrast to his daughter's expression, "No, you would not be the only one who has observed that phenomenon."

"Not like you have much ground to stand on," Ino pointed out in critique. "I mean, really, fishcake? Even if you wanted to try to sound cool and go with maelstrom, your last name already means whirlpool. A maelstrom is just a never-ending whirlpool. If anything you should be something like kaizen for never-ending."

Shikamaru snorted, "And how do you know that Naruto could mean maelstrom, Ino?"

Ino crossed her arms and defended herself with, "I have a thing for knowing the meaning of everyone's names, 'dear boy'."

"Whatever you say, whale of the mountains," Shikamaru joked making a pun from Ino's name being short for boars, commonly referred to as the whales of the mountains. Ino's face turned red in anger in response, while her father placed a hand on her shoulder.

In the meantime, another wave of food came bringing the nimono course with simmered vegetables.

Ino clearly attempted to change the topic from her name, "I don't know how you all do it. I'm already starting to feel a little full."

Choji decided that was his cue, "What do you mean? I'm still hungry. Not even Naruto is slowing down."

Naruto looked up after finishing all of his vegetables, "What? I'm not the biggest fan of vegetables myself, but somehow you Akimichis have found a way to even make vegetables taste good."

Chiharu chuckled, "The trick is to vegetables is the same as all other foods – freshness. Most cooks simply don't pay the proper attention to vegetables and fruits assuming that they are fine to serve as are. That simply could not be further from the truth. Vegetables and fruits deserve just as much time and recognition even if they can be eaten right off the vine or tree without worrying about digestive troubles."

Naruto nodded wisely at the statement taking the words to heart.

The nimono didn't last long and was quickly replaced by kounomono that consisted of just Akimichi-style pickles and pickled food.

"I can't help but notice that large appetite of yours Naruto-kun," Choza observed. "Maybe I should think about making you an honorary Akimichi."

Naruto chuckled merrily shacking off the last vestiges of nervousness, "Mama says the same thing! She blames it on my freakishly high metabolism. My record at Ramen Ichiraku is seven bowls. No offense, but they have the best quality of service in all of Konoha. Teuchi and his daughter are simply the nicest people you will ever meet. Believe it! Oh, look at me, talking about stuff like that at an Akimichi dinner. Sorry about that, but I could literally talk about Ichiraku, until the dinner ends."

Chiharu laughed Naruto's concern away, "No worries, young Naruto. Everyone has his or her favorites. Just a shame we weren't able to capture your heart, or dare I say stomach, first."

Naruto grinned sheepishly, "I just feel like I'm hogging all the conversation. This is all of your dinners I'm interrupting."

"Please," Yoshino began. "If anything, we need you to talk. I can't tell you how many lame conversations we have had. These old war heroes can only talk about their war stories. They're interesting the first few times you hear them, but eventually it becomes so boring. I need new, fresh stuff to hear. Plus, the other males don't really bring anything to the table in terms of conversation."

Choji had basically ignored everything anyone was saying and paid all of his attention to his food. He was extremely loud with his Itadakimasu for the most recent course, the aemono. The aemono was a meal of chicken breast dressed in one of Akimichi's many secret sauces.

"See what I mean, just look at Shika or Choji," Yoshino offered. "And take your pick with which Shika you want to prove my point."

Naruto laughed pleasantly and focused on his meal, while Shikaku perked up to defend himself, "So, how was work Inoichi?"

"Busy as you can imagine," Inoichi sighed. "There was been a recent outbreak of individuals breaking the Third Hokage's orders this week as you can imagine."

If Choji was paying attention, he would have noticed the slight tilt in Inoichi's head towards Naruto who was blissfully eating his aemono. Shikaku in the meanwhile nodded his head once in understanding along with the rest of the table.

"Hopefully nothing too bad," Noriko asked in concern.

"We simply needed to determine from the people that we caught who else knew about the law," Inoichi began to explain. "Fortunately, they did not reveal any information to those who did not already know about it beforehand. We simply brought in the individuals that the perpetrator talked to and reminded them of the Third's law. I left before the Third could pass his judgment, but I doubt it will not stray from precedent. Although you know how Ibiki regards those who break the Third's laws."

"Shouldn't the punishment just be death for breaking any of Hokage-sama's orders or laws?" Naruto asked suddenly gaining everyone's attention. "I mean, isn't he the supreme leader and everything, so wouldn't disobeying him be the supreme crime?"

"That's a common misconception from people who discover that the Kage of a Hidden Village is the supreme leader," Shikaku began to explain matter-of-factly. "When a Kage makes a law or gives an order, all rule-breakers fall under his direct jurisdiction. In other words, the Kage gets to determine the punishment for each individual case. However, a Kage usually rules the same way for the majority of cases which was what Inoichi meant by keeping precedent.

"As you are probably asking yourself, the Kage cannot take advantage of his position for his own personal reasons and become a tyrannical despot, or his Shinobi will not be loyal and possibly assassinate him. For instance, the Fourth Mizukage has instigated a civil war against his reign for his terrible practices like –"

"I believe that is quite enough Shikaku-san," Noriko said from the other side of the table in her slightly posh accent. "If we could please talk about more civil matter at the dinner table."

Choji would have to have agreed with Ino's mother on the matter. He didn't have a morbid fascination for such details like the blonde sitting next to him who looked put out.

The Akimichi heir decided to ignore Yoshino's pointed look at her husband and Noriko for the nassun platter of food from the mountains and the sea. Ironically, the meal consisted of boar meat from the mountain valley near Konoha and mahi-mahi from the Hanguri Gulf to the south of the Land of Fire.

Shikaku chuckled nervously resulting in a roll of Shikamaru's eyes, "Right, well, you mentioned becoming good friends with the head monk at the Fire Temple here in Konoha, no? None of us have been there before; would you mind talking about it?"

Naruto looked up from his plate and noticeably swallowed the food in his mouth and taking a swig of extremely watered-down saké, "Right! The head monk is Kagemura Tenshin-sama, and I meet him like I told Shikaku-san earlier today because he is really good friends with Grandpa Hokage-sama. The Fire Temple is more of a complex of pagodas in a walled area inside of Konoha's grand walls. I love it because it's kind of like going to a different town or village within a village. The monks and neophytes come from all walks of life really, and I love hearing all of their stories. It's just like Tenshin-sama said, 'Everyone has their own story to tell'.

"I mentioned the Fire Temple to Inoichi-san because they have the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Their Zen garden is truly unbelievable because it diverts a nearby stream to make a waterfall on the edge, and they have the coolest flowers from all over the Land of Fire, too. And so many. I've never seen so many flowers and plants in one place before, and the winding sidewalks allow you to walk through the garden and up to the waterfall. It's like a piece of heaven! Believe it!

"Of course, they also have one of those sand pits with boulders for the monks to rake for meditation or something. I personally don't get it, but hey, they can do their thing, and I'll do mine.

"At first I'll admit to thinking of Tenshin-sama as another old geezer or something, but he is actually really cool, too. He used to be a member of the Fire Daimyo's Twelve Guardian Ninjas before he retired because of his age and founded the temple here in Konoha with Hokage-sama's help. Can you believe it? He was around the Fire Daimyo, the most powerful man in the whole Elemental Nations, for like thirty years."

Choji nodded and added a few non-committal statements throughout Naruto's enthusiastic speech along with the rest of the table.

"You all really need to go see it one day. It's so cool. Believe it!" Naruto finished, while the servers took everyone's plates away.

Everyone nodded his or her head.

The next meal, Choji discovered after opening his meal's lid, was a sunomono which was chicken and pork marinated in vinegar. Choji loved vinegar in his foods especially his mother's homemade balsamic vinaigrette which he could taste in the meal.

"That reminds me," Choza announced after taking a bite of the meal. "The Third's son, Asuma, was a member for the Twelve as well. I wonder how he is doing back in Konoha. It was such a tragic thing that he had to suffer when the Twelve fought each other over the coup. And what a silly reason? So, they could be in charge of a puppet Daimyo."

Shikaku agreed with Choza's disapproval, "Placing that much power in one man is only asking for trouble."

"The idea of a Kage and Daimyo's power alone makes one shudder, but the thought of putting the two together would be unimaginable," Inoichi added. "Power corrupts-"

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Shikaku finished with a smirk. "How astute of you Inoichi."

Ino's father huffed and went back to eating his meal ignoring Choza's hearty chuckling.

"He plans on running missions for a while," Shikaku supplied. "I talked to him recently as the Jonin Commander, and he plans on getting reacquainted with his old friends and comrades in Konoha. Who knows he might plan on applying for the Jonin position? Might even decide to become a Jonin-sensei. He's surely gotten a lot stronger during his tenure as one of the Twelve."

"How's his relationship with his father," Choza asked in concern. "I remember hearing they didn't exactly leave on the best of terms."

Shikaku shrugged his shoulders, "It seems like they are both working on mending it. Asuma has matured, that's for sure. Also, I'm sure Kioshi and Naora's son that the Third named Konohamaru is helping to bridge the two of them together. Truly was a tragedy what happened to the two of them."

The whole table held a moment of silence for the two.

Choji had no idea who everyone was talking about or what the Twelve really were, and he honestly didn't really care. '_When was this information going to be pertinent to him in the future,'_ Choji asked rhetorically to himself.

The servers brought out the yakimono dish of grilled fish, in this case salmon from the same mountain valley that the hunters collected the boars. Choji wasn't the biggest fan of salmon meat, but he ate it nonetheless.

"I hear the Fire Daimyo is thinking about restarting the Twelve Guardian Ninja again due to an increase in threats from a perceived weakness from the lack of bodyguards," Inoichi said revealing his socialite nature. "He's thinking of starting a policy of recruiting them younger, so that they won't have as much political clout or dreams of grand design like running the Fire Nation and Konoha from a puppet Daimyo."

Choza laughed, "You hear that boys. And umm, you too Ino. The Fire Daimyo might come knocking on your door one day asking you to be a Guardian Ninja like Asuma-san. Although he went to get enlisted for the position now that I think about it."

"It would be an honor to one day serve the Fire Daimyo," Naruto said politely with a small smile indicating that he would wait and see, while the rest of his peers just nodded their heads and kept eating.

"Hopefully, the Fire Daimyo doesn't start getting ideas from the Wind Daimyo," Shikaku said sullenly. "The Wind Daimyo has decided to cut a massive amount of funding for the Hidden Village in the Sand along with outsourcing missions to the Minor Nations. Apparently, he has suddenly decided to stop liking the Big Five. Maybe, he got the idea from the coup d'état attempt here in the Fire Nation and found the Hidden Villages to be too powerful."

"Of course, the Wind Daimyo doesn't mind using our cheaper services, too," Choza reminded the Nara clan head.

Inoichi frowned in thought, "That's not a good sign. Luckily we have an alliance with them, but you can never be too sure of a Shinobi's word when he gets backed into a corner. And we all know what kind of man the Fourth Kazekage is like."

"Indeed," Choza said thoughtfully. "Thankfully, he allowed us to deliver peace terms at their border with Iwa and even backed us up when those Iwa ninjas were planning on starting a fight."

"True," Inoichi said, "but you can't forget what he was like when we actually met him afterwards."

"A serious man that fellow was, " Shikaku added. "I've never met anyone with such a ruthlessly utilitarian mindset. That habit of his of putting a value on everything to top it all off, too."

The last course before the dessert was a mushimono or hot pot. Choji himself helped on this meal earlier in the day by preparing some of the ingredients. The traditional Akimichi hot pot contained thinly sliced beef, leaf vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings and fresh fish. It went without saying that all of the vegetables, meat and fish were fresh though.

"Speaking of budget cuts," Noriko said. "Have you noticed the recent reduction in prices for goods across the sea? Even some goods from the Land of Water are cheaper despite their dire situation."

"Actually, I have Noriko," Chiharu said thoughtfully. "In fact I was thinking about that earlier today when I was shopping for groceries, and I noticed the prices of foreign items. There was even a sale for the shopkeepers to get rid of their old shelf items because of the recent influx in foreign goods. I asked one of the shopkeepers, and he praised some guy by the name of Gato. Apparently, he's being developing his shipping company more on the east side of the Land of Fire expanding from his base in Hanguri Gulf shipping."

"Me too," Yoshino added but didn't make eye contact.

"I'm sure you did Yoshino," Ino's mother said with a smirk. "Nothing get's past your hawk eyes."

Inoichi decided to enter the conversation after his wife's snippy remark, "Maybe that's linked to the recent increase in foreign drugs entering the underground that we've been noticing in the Intelligence Division."

"Afraid I couldn't help you there, Inoichi," Choza said and resumed eating.

Shikaku put a hand to his goatee and scratched, "It could be linked to this Gato character. He could be shipping both legal and illegal goods, or some of the foreign drug dealers and makers are transporting the goods under Gato's nose."

"Of course you men have to ruin a perfectly good conversation about lower prices for perfectly fine goods. Now I feel bad for all of my purchases," Chiharu admonished half-heartedly, "but I will not have you ruin the dessert that I made myself for everyone here tonight.

"A Daimyo's wife might say, 'Let them eat cake', but I'm a Shinobi's wife. So I say, 'Let them eat amanatto.' "

Choji didn't know whether to be ecstatic for his favorite dessert, or to groan at his mother's lame pun. When he heard Ino voice her concerns on eating any more for her self-prescribed diet, he had to come to his mother's defense, "Ino, you have to eat it. You remember how much you love my mother's amanatto."

"I know Choji," Ino said slightly downcast at her comment. "I've just been working hard on my feminine figure."

Inoichi groaned, "I don't know where I went wrong. How is she already worrying about her looks? She's eight!"

Ino shook her head, "You just don't understand."

"I have no idea what I would do if I had a daughter," Shikaku said in true fear.

"Enough talking, more eating," Choji's mother insisted. "Everyone."

"A woman after my own heart," Naruto said with a wry smirk before dramatically picking one of the sugar covered azuki beans and placing it in his mouth. After savoring it and chewing on it for a few moments, "This is really good, Chiharu-san! Like the best dessert I've ever had! Believe it! Just don't tell Mama that though, 'kay?"

Choji smiled to himself tasting the traditional Akimichi dessert. He hoped one day that he could achieve the ability to put a smile on someone's face due to his skill in the culinary arts. Also, being called a better cook than one's own mom had a plus side.

As everyone ate his mom's famous amanatto, the servers placed a round of fresh saké around the table for the parents and a watered down variant for the kids. Choza stood up from the table once he noticed everyone had finished their dessert with a saké saucer in his hand, "To the next generation!"

All of the parents proudly brought up their saké saucers in cheers, while the kids awkwardly raised their drinks. Before the parents could start another conversation, Shikamaru gave a loud yawn, and Choji realized that he was a little tired himself after such a heavy meal. The Akimichi heir turned to his other side and noticed Naruto happily patting his belly in pure content, and Ino stared forlornly at herself clearly worried about her recently discovered feminine figure.

"Shikamaru!" Yoshino scolded.

"I believe we've all had a busy day," Inoichi said in Shikamaru's defense. Choji could see that Inoichi had some slight bags under his eyes from his busy week at work.

"Right," Choza agreed. "We'll escort all of you on your way out."

With that everyone slowly got out of their chairs and ambled behind Choza and Chiharu towards the exit. At the door, Choza looked down at Naruto and patted his shoulder, "I've never seen a non-Akimichi go after food like that before, my boy. You must have quite the appetite."

Choji would have to agree that he himself was rather impressed by Naruto's appetite. Those bento boxes that his sisters prepare him have just as much food as Choji's own lunches that his mother packs him. Naruto blushed faintly, "Mama says eating too much in front of others is unseemly, but she also can't explain my seemingly endless stomach. You should see me with ramen. I've even won Ichiraku's award for eating the most ramen in thirty minutes. Believe it!"

"I don't doubt it. Tell Mura-san that we will be able to put everything together by Tuesday, and we can test just how much you eat," Choza continued.

Naruto beamed a smile and immediately responded, "I'll be looking forward to it. Mama is always talking about how I need to work on my diet, since I have such a high metabolism. She says it's why I can get so hyper sometimes."

"Oh, she didn't tell you," Choza laughed. "We're going to be doing a whole entire nutritional analysis and create the perfect diet for your personalized needs for you, my boy. I can't wait to see the results myself if what Mura-san said in the letter is true."

Naruto eyes widened for a moment before laughing, "That's so classic Mama." Naruto turned to walk outside the huge clan doors from the main dining hall before freezing, as he stared outside. Choji could tell that Naruto was suddenly very nervous.

"Something wrong child," Chiharu said in concern from her husband's side gaining everyone's attention.

"Oh, nothing, no," Naruto stumbled over his words. "Just a little afraid of walking in the streets at night is all. Mama always tells me I should never be out in dark by myself because you never know what might happen. I'm sure I'll be fine though. This is a nice neighborhood."

"No worries. We'll walk you home on our way back," Inoichi offered.

Ino groaned, "Daddy, it'll be fine. I'm really tired and ate too much. Let the Naras do it."

"Ino," Noriko said in warning at her daughter's behavior. "They live in the opposite direction."

Naruto tilted his head down and mumbled, "Sorry for being a hassle."

"Nonsense," Inoichi said dismissing Naruto's worries. "Just lead the way."

Naruto started walking with the Yamanaka family out of Choji's family's gates and hiccupped loudly and stumbled a little, "Woopsie! Still feeling a little funny, but it's all-good. Believe it! Hic!"

The rest of the group chuckled although Choji noticed a sense of disappointment from the gate guards, when they heard that the Yamanakas would escort the boy home. The Akimichi heir was a little taken back by that sentiment but turned around when he heard his mom sigh in contentment, "Thank goodness the Yamanakas offered to walk the boy home, or we would have had to. The last thing I need to hear about is how we Akimichis got an eight-year old drunk and had him walk himself back home at ten in the night."

"True, true," Choza admitted. "I don't know if the boy is really week to saké, or if he was actually still getting barely-watered down saké and didn't notice it because he was already slightly inebriated."

Chiharu leaned against her husband's broad shoulder, "We'll just have to be more careful next time is all."

"You do realize that the boy is going to tell his mother everything that happened tonight, and she'll put it together that he got drunk, right," Choza said breaking his wife's optimistic outlook.

Choji's mother gave a soft smile, "I guess we'll be having to make a slight discount on our prices for her, ne?"

"Sometimes I wonder if Mura planned for this to happen," Choza pondered out loud.

* * *

My average chapter length is 7,000 words. This chapter was 11,925 words. Apparently, the idea of writing a chapter with a dinner for ten people sounded a lot better in my head than it did writing it.

I hope you all enjoy it! Have a wonderful weekend.


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